IL Residents Among Least Likely To Move To Another State: Ranking

ILLINOIS — Illinoisans are among the least likely in the nation to move out of the state they call home, according to a recent ranking.

Real estate industry website AgentAdvice analyzed data from the 2022 American Community Survey to determine which states had the highest percentage of residents who moved to other states that year.

Illinois was 26th on the list, which had many ties, with only 1.6 percent of residents — or 203,136 out of over 12.6 million — estimated to have moved out of state, according to the ranking, which noted 2.5 percent of Illinoisans moved within the state in 2022 and 0.5 percent moved abroad.

Tied for 25th in the ranking were Louisiana and Ohio, where 1.7 percent of residents were estimated to have moved out of state. Tied for 27th were New York and Michigan, where 1.4 percent of residents were estimated to have left the state.

California was last on the list at 28th, with only 1.2 percent of residents estimated to have moved out of state.

At the top of the list was Colorado, where 5 percent of residents were estimated to have left in 2022, followed by a tie between Idaho and Wyoming at 4.9 percent and North Dakota at 4.5 percent.

“Whilst the amount of people moving between states is far higher than those leaving America entirely, it still raises questions as to why some states have much higher percentages of people leaving than others,” an AgentAdvice spokesperson said in a news release.

“Cost of living is a major factor for most people, especially when looking at housing prices and tax rates. Colorado has high house prices due to its picturesque scenery, which some households cannot continue to afford. Colorado and Idaho have also seen notable population growth in recent years that may be pushing people elsewhere.”