Fla. Focus of 1 Out of Every 7 Out-of-State Moves

MADISON, N.J. – According to Coldwell Banker’s Move Meter, a tool designed to show Americans’ moving goals, Florida is not only a top destination searched by out-of-staters, but few Floridians looking for a new home gaze beyond the state’s borders.

Overall, 82% of all Move Meter searches to date were looking to move out of state:

• The average Move Meter search covered 1,015 average miles
  — 82% of searches were for a move out of state
  — Massachusetts had the greatest proportion of searchers considering staying in-state, with 40% of all searches from Massachusetts looking to stay loyal to the Commonwealth
  — About 13% of all searchers looked within a driving distance of 100-miles from their origin destination. The highest proportion of moves being considered was somewhere between 500 to 1,500 miles away (42%).
• Midwesterners and Northeasterners are looking for warmer temps in the Southeast (38% vs 46%); Southeasterners, Southwesterners and Westerners all had higher likelihoods of staying local to their respective regions.

Where to move?

• The #1 state topping the Move Meter interest index was Florida with one out of seven of all Move Meter searches looking to move to the Sunshine State.
  — The top states looking to soak up the Florida sun included New Jersey, California, New York, Illinois, Ohio and Massachusetts. The Florida cities that held the most interest are Sarasota, Miami, Naples and Tampa.
  — Floridians also see the state’s appeal, and it’s one of the top states for residents searching for other metro areas within their home state. The other top states Floridians searched were North Carolina and Tennessee.
• Austin, Texas, was the most-searched destination to move to with 46% more searches than the next closest destination. The top locale dreaming about moving to Austin is San Diego, California.
• 20% of searches from California were looking to stay in the Golden State. The top in-state searches looking to move somewhere else within California were from San Diego, San Francisco and Bakersfield. For Californians considering an out-of-state move, the top destinations were Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Washington overall, with the top metro areas of interest Austin, Dallas, Seattle.
• Destination dreams: The top 10 searched cities included Austin; Sarasota, Florida; San Diego; Denver; Nashville, Tennessee; Tampa, Florida; New York; Naples, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Seattle.

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