Outbound moves: 51%
St. Louis is the city known as the “Gateway to the West” — but Missourians tend to head right on through to another state. And there’s no amount of St. Louis’ amazing food is enough to convince them to stay. Jobs are the reason behind a majority of the moves out of the State.
Factories are closing around Kansas City, causing the entire metro area to lose 1.9% of its manufacturing jobs just over the last year. Missourians have commented on Reddit saying the State has other faults, including the weather. “Humid Southern summers and northern-like winters mean swiftly jumping from one extreme to the other, writes Meimnot555.
Arkansas
Outbound moves: 49.7%
Arkansas is renowned for its incredible parks and wildlife reserves, as well as its weather, being in the central Tornado Alley of the U.S. But regarding the job market, Arkansas doesn't give many people a good enough case to stay: Over 7% of those who pack their belongings into moving vans say they leave in search of work.
The Washington Post reported last year that the State became the first to require Medicaid recipients to hold jobs, which meant that thousands lost their health insurance in the months that followed. Clearly, Arkansas doesn't have enough work to go around.
Maine
Maine is a pleasant enough State, but we wouldn't necessarily want to retire here, or at least that's what the people said who are moving away. Nearly half of all Mainers who pick up and leave are headed for a better place — presumably a warmer environment. "It gets pretty cold during the wintertime. With a lot of wind and snow," writes Elsa K., on Quora. "I'm originally from Iceland, and the wintertime in Maine isn't as long or dark as in Iceland, but they feel colder and snowier."
Elsa added that the warmer weather in the summer months isn't much better: "There are so many insects, especially if you get away from the coast. Ticks, mosquitoes, and flies."
North Dakota
Outbound moves: 51.3%
One of America's most scarcely populated states made this list because residents often find it too dull. The main reason to leave North Dakota — cited by more than half of those who leave — is the quality of lives, United Van Lines says. "Every state has something interesting to offer," writes one critic, on Quora. "What's interesting about North Dakota?"
Though some residents argue that North Dakota doesn't have enough to do, but if you live here, you will find a job. The unemployment rate was a meager 2.5% during September 2019.
Virginia
Outbound moves: 51.6%
More people seem to be moving out than moving in, even though the State's suburbs are booming. Still, the rural parts in southern Virginia are quickly losing residents, researchers at the University of Virginia recently reported.
About half of those who leave the birthplace of their nation do so to look for better employment opportunities elsewhere, a little over a fourth of those who hit the road, did so to move closer to family, and approximately a quarter leave because they're thinking about retiring somewhere else.