FLORIDA (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — Florida still sells itself as the landing spot for people looking for sun, space, and a reset, but a new national movers study suggests the story is shifting a bit.

United Van Lines’ 49th Annual National Movers Study, released this week, says Americans are moving interstate mainly to be closer to family, to take a new job or transfer, or to retire. Family came in first, at 29% of moves. Company transfer or a new job followed at 26%. Retirement was next, at 14%.

That ordering matters. For years, “moving to Florida” has been shorthand for retirement or lifestyle. The new data doesn’t say those motivations disappeared, but it does frame interstate relocation as something more complicated — and more personal — than chasing weather or taxes. It’s kids and grandkids. It’s a job offer. It’s a parent who needs help. Sometimes all of it at once.

The study also points to a broader shift toward smaller cities and towns, away from major metros where housing costs have climbed. The top destination metro areas in the data weren’t New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. They were places like Eugene-Springfield, Oregon (85% inbound moves), Wilmington, North Carolina (83%), and Dover, Delaware (79%). Lower-density living that accelerated during the COVID era is still echoing, but now it’s colliding with affordability in a more permanent way.

Florida shows up in the report in a different category than it used to.

Texas and Florida — historically big inbound magnets — are now described as “balanced” states, meaning inbound and outbound movement is roughly even. The study notes rising housing costs are starting to constrain even traditionally attractive regions. In plain terms: people still want to move to Florida, but more people are also leaving, and the difference is no longer as dramatic as it was in prior years.

That doesn’t mean the pipelines into Florida shut off. It does suggest Florida is entering a new phase where the margin is thinner, competition between states is sharper, and the reasons people move here may be more varied than the easy stereotypes.

Nationally, the states topping the inbound list in 2025 were Oregon, West Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware, Minnesota, Idaho, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, and Nevada. New additions to the inbound top list included Nevada, Idaho, and Minnesota. South Carolina and Alabama have been on the inbound list repeatedly over the past six years, according to the report.

Oregon led the nation in inbound moves for the first time, with 65% inbound migration, jumping from No. 8 inbound in 2024. The report ties Oregon’s inbound rise to job-seeking, especially in tech and health care fields, with Eugene-Springfield cited as a leading inbound metro. Springfield is singled out as more affordable than other Oregon metros, with access to Eugene and Portland.

On the outbound side, New Jersey again topped the list, with 62% outbound migration, marking the eighth consecutive year it has led the nation in departures. New York and California followed at 58% outbound. But even there, the study describes nuance: New Jersey is losing retirees, while drawing younger professionals and families who treat it as a “launch state.” The report says 21% of inbound moves to New Jersey were by people ages 18–34, even as the overall trend remains outbound.

One of the cleaner takeaways from the study is that the old map — everyone fleeing cold states for warm ones — is still real, but it’s no longer the whole map. The South and parts of the West continue to draw movers, but the biggest pulls increasingly involve family ties and job decisions, and the destinations showing the strongest inbound shares tend to be smaller or mid-sized areas rather than the giant coastal metros.

The study’s methodology is rooted in actual household moves handled by the UniGroup network, United Van Lines’ parent company, across the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. It ranks states by inbound and outbound percentages of total moves, labeling states “high inbound” at 55% or more incoming, “high outbound” at 55% or more leaving, and “balanced” when the difference is negligible.

There’s also a reminder buried in the fine print: Vermont posted the highest percentage of inbound moves overall, but the company handled fewer than 250 moves there, so Vermont wasn’t included in the ranked inbound/outbound lists. The rankings only reflect states with 250 moves or more.

For Florida, the “balanced” label may land as a surprise, especially after years of national headlines about explosive growth, relocation booms, and moving-truck traffic streaming south.

But it also fits what many residents have been feeling on the ground: higher rents, higher home prices, tougher insurance bills, and a general sense that the state is no longer a bargain — even if the beaches still look the same.

And for a lot of movers, the study suggests the deciding factor isn’t the beach anyway. It’s the people.

Source: United Van Lines, 49th Annual National Movers Study (2025)