The Boise Idaho area is getting most of the people moving to the Gem State because of the many employment opportunities.
PRESTON, ID – A national moving company claims Idaho – with its wide-open spaces, low cost of living and clear skies – is attracting more move-ins than any other state in the U.S.
The abundant number of newcomers to the state are no surprise to Franklin County realtor Paul Judd of Great of American Realty.
Judd has worked 14 years as a realtor in Franklin County. He cited numbers backing up Idaho’s attractiveness to people migrating to Utah’s northern neighbor.
“Right now, there are 80,000 people a year moving into Idaho,” he said. “The biggest percentage, 26 percent, are from California, 11 percent are from Washington and 10 percent from Oregon.”
Surprising to Judd is the eight percent from Utah. Most of the out-of-state home buyers in Franklin County he has experienced are from the Beehive State.
“The two places in the state that are seeing the biggest increase of people moving in are first, Boise then Idaho Falls,” he said. “Boise has more jobs, but the housing is more expensive. Idaho Falls has fewer jobs, but the housing is less expensive.”
Franklin County is also experiencing some of Idaho’s population increase.
Right now, there is a shortage of homes for sale in Franklin County with only 14 listings in the Preston area.
“We have people selling their homes because the prices are so good, but they can’t replace what they had and can’t find a place to live because they didn’t make enough from their sale to buy something else,” he said. “Construction prices are high, and they can’t afford what’s on the market, so they are moving in with their parents or other family members.”
Atlas Van Lines, a moving company, plotted migration trends throughout the country last year and calculated the influx of people to the Gem State.
They found more people moved to Idaho than any other state.
Utah didn’t even make the list’s top 10. Atlas documented 687 move-ins and 542 move-outs, with a net gain of only 139 move-ins.
The following states had the highest inbound moves last year, according to the moving company’s study:
- Idaho (66.4 percent)
- North Carolina (64.6 percent)
- Maine (62.4 percent)
- New Hampshire (61.6 percent)
- Alabama (60.8 percent)
- District of Columbia (60.2 percent)
- New Mexico (60.0 percent)
- Nevada (59.8 percent)
- Alaska (58.6 percent)
- Kentucky (57.7 percent)
Here are the states Atlas reported had the highest percentage of outbound moves:
- New York (66.4 percent)
- Illinois (62.5 percent)
- New Jersey (60.6 percent)
- Louisiana (60.1 percent)
- West Virginia (59.8 percent)
- Nebraska (58.3 percent)
- Minnesota (57.9 percent)
- Indiana (57.8 percent)
- California (57.1 percent)
- Iowa (56.1 percent)
The study by the national moving company found that 26 states registered as balanced, meaning that moves in and out of the states and Washington, D.C., were roughly equal.
Last year’s total number of interstate and cross-border moves in North America reached 66,308, down from 71,092 in 2018.
The numbers are only from Atlas Van Lines and do not take in to account other moving companies or people who rent vans to move themselves.