Texas had the lowest outmigration rate in the country at 11.7% as recently as 2022, making it statistically the hardest state to leave. Yet by 2026, both Texas and Florida, the twin engines of the pandemic-era migration boom, had been reclassified as “balanced” states, meaning inbound and outbound moves were roughly equal. Two states that dominated a decade of relocation headlines had effectively plateaued at the same moment a new crop of destinations quietly took their place.
The shift matters because it exposes something the headline numbers tend to obscure. People don’t just move to a state; they decide to stay. The states now pulling the biggest migration numbers share a common thread: manageable housing costs, economic opportunity, and tax structures that keep residents from reconsidering. That pattern holds up across every major migration dataset published in 2025 and 2026.
U.S. population growth slowed to just 0.5% between July 2024 and July 2025, the slowest pace since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer Americans are moving overall, which means the states still gaining residents are doing so against a national tide of inertia. These are the places people choose, and then choose again by not leaving. Below are nine of the best states to live in right now, ranked by the strength of that case.
1. South Carolina
South Carolina was named the nation’s fastest-growing state of 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Its population grew by 79,958 between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, driven almost entirely by domestic migration. South Carolina has ranked in the top six states for population growth in each of the last five years.
For a third year in a row, South Carolina ranked as the number one destination for in-moves compared to exits in the moveBuddha 2025-2026 Migration Report, seeing just shy of two newcomers for every exit. Net domestic migration fueled that increase, with 66,622 more people moving into the state than out, meaning that growth was real and durable rather than a statistical artifact of total population size.
What keeps people there is a combination of warm weather, affordable coastal and inland communities, and a tax structure friendlier than most of its neighbors. Cities like Greenville have quietly become magnets for professionals leaving higher-cost metros, offering a growing job market, affordable housing, and a revitalized downtown. For anyone weighing the best states to live in, South Carolina’s data is hard to argue with.
2. North Carolina
North Carolina led all states in net domestic migration in the year ending July 2025, with a gain of 84,064 domestic migrants, and the momentum hasn’t slowed. North Carolina grew at 1.3% in 2025, trailing only South Carolina and Idaho, with its growth also driven by domestic migration gains.
The Charlotte metropolitan area continues to attract significant inbound interest, with a low cost of living and strong family-friendly appeal, while the Research Triangle corridor anchoring Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill draws biotech, tech, and university talent at a scale that rivals much larger coastal metros. North Carolina offers expanding job markets without the intensity found in larger coastal metros, and housing remains comparatively attainable.
The state has no single identity that pins it to one type of mover. Mountains in the west, beaches on the east, and multiple mid-sized cities in between give North Carolina a range that few states can match. Residents who arrive for work tend to stay for the lifestyle, which is exactly the definition of a sticky state.
3. Idaho
Idaho saw the most inbound migration in 2025 for the second year in a row, according to North American Van Lines, with southern states remaining popular destinations but Idaho topping the inbound list. MoveBuddha ranked Idaho as the number one state for moves in early 2026, with a 2.05 in-to-out move ratio – the first time the state ratio has been higher than 2.0 since 2020.
U.S. Census data shows that 80% of Idaho counties grew their populations in 2025. A lot of that inflow comes from California and other high-cost Western states. Compared to neighboring Western states, Idaho remains significantly more accessible in terms of housing costs, even as prices have risen nationwide. That affordability, paired with access to outdoor recreation and less-congested metros, has made the state especially attractive to remote workers and retirees alike.
Rather than being concentrated in a single season, Idaho’s migration gains were spread consistently across the year, signaling durable demand rather than a short-term spike. Boise has grown into a genuine mid-sized city with a functioning tech sector, while smaller communities like Meridian and Nampa absorb families looking for space and lower costs. The combination has proven remarkably difficult to leave.
4. Tennessee
Tennessee carries a structural advantage that most states can’t replicate: no broad personal income tax, which directly boosts take-home pay for every working resident. The most moved-to states in 2025 according to North American Van Lines included Tennessee among the top five nationally, alongside Idaho, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida. Knoxville and Chattanooga continue to attract families and entrepreneurs looking for long-term value, helped by affordability and access to the outdoors.
MoveBuddha’s migration forecast projects Knoxville among the cities with the highest in-to-out move ratios heading into 2026, with top-ranked states in the forecast expected to see no fewer than 1.68 new in-moves per exit. Its combination of affordable living, scenic surroundings, and university influence makes it a consistent draw. Nashville remains one of the country’s fastest-growing large metros, but the smaller cities are now absorbing just as much of the inflow.
Tennessee gained approximately 77,513 residents between 2022 and 2023 alone, placing it consistently in the top tier nationally for numeric growth. For families relocating from high-tax states in the Northeast or Midwest, the financial math often becomes obvious within the first year of residency.
5. Georgia
Georgia operates at a scale that most migration darlings don’t. In 2025, North American Van Lines identified Georgia among the states seeing the highest increase in inbound migration, alongside Idaho, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida – states known for affordability, low taxes, and a reasonably priced housing market.
Georgia gained 98,540 residents in the year ending July 2025, the highest numeric gain after Florida and Texas. That figure reflects not just arrivals but retention. Atlanta’s position as a major corporate hub for logistics, film, fintech, and healthcare gives the state an unusually broad economic base that keeps residents employed across multiple sectors.
Outside Atlanta, cities like Savannah and Augusta offer slower paces at even lower costs, giving the state genuine appeal across multiple lifestyle profiles. The combination of a large metro with strong job creation and smaller cities that remain affordable is exactly the formula appearing in every major 2025 migration dataset.
6. Delaware
Delaware is an outlier on this list in the best possible way. According to the United Van Lines 2025 National Movers Study, Delaware ranked fourth nationally for inbound moves, with 59.65% of all moves involving the state being inbound. The state benefits from proximity to major East Coast job markets while maintaining a comparatively lower cost of living.
No sales tax is a tangible daily benefit that compounds over years of residency. Delaware is also known for being relatively tax-friendly for retirees, with coastal towns providing attractive beach living and a quieter lifestyle compared to other cities on the Atlantic. For workers who commute into Philadelphia or the broader Mid-Atlantic corridor, the state offers a rare combination: metropolitan job access at a fraction of the housing cost.
The state’s small size – just 68 miles from north to south – means residents are rarely more than an hour from everything they need. Dover, Delaware ranked among the top destination metro areas nationally in the United Van Lines data, with 79% of its moves being inbound. That density of access, combined with the tax advantages, explains why people who move to Delaware tend to plant roots rather than move on.
7. Oregon
Oregon’s migration story in 2025 was the most surprising reversal in any national dataset. Interstate hauler United Van Lines reported in its annual movers study that 64.5% of moves involving Oregon were inbound, ranking it No. 1 nationally – up from No. 8 the prior year, when 57.9% of moves came into the state.
The reversal reflects a recalibration happening across the Pacific Northwest. As housing costs in California and Washington have climbed further, Oregon’s comparative affordability has improved. Portland remains a complex market, but mid-sized cities like Bend, Eugene, and Medford are drawing people who want outdoor access, a genuine sense of community, and housing prices that don’t require dual six-figure incomes.
Eugene-Springfield was highlighted as the top destination metro in the United Van Lines data, with 85% of inbound movers – driven by its lower cost of living compared with other Oregon cities and its proximity to Eugene and Portland. Oregon also has no sales tax, and residents who make it past the famously wet winters tend to stay for decades.
8. Texas
Texas posted the country’s lowest outmigration rate at 11.7% as recently as 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a figure that reflects deep structural loyalty among residents. Even as the state’s migration balance has since normalized, the underlying conditions that made Texas sticky haven’t changed. Texas has no broad personal income tax, which alone represents a significant financial advantage for working households.
Texas grew at 1.2% in 2025 from a combination of natural change and net international migration, confirming that even as domestic migration has plateaued, total population growth remains robust. The diversity of its metros also provides insulation that single-city states lack. Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio each offer distinct economies and housing markets, meaning residents can move within the state as their circumstances change rather than having to leave entirely.
The state’s economic scale and climate make it a default comparison point for anyone building a serious case for the best states to live in. While Texas appeared as a top outbound state for the first time in the North American Van Lines 2025 data, the U-Haul Growth Index simultaneously ranked Texas as its No. 1 growth state for 2025. Those competing signals reflect a state in transition, not decline.
9. South Dakota
South Dakota doesn’t attract headlines the way its Southern competitors do, but its economic fundamentals are difficult to beat. According to moveBuddha’s migration forecast, South Dakota is the state where inbound interest is rising the fastest heading into 2026. Like Tennessee and Texas, South Dakota charges no state income tax, and it also carries no corporate income tax, which has made it a consistent destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to lower their operational overhead.
Atlas Van Lines’ 2025 migration study placed South Dakota among the states with the highest outbound move rate, which is a useful counterweight to the moveBuddha forecast data – the picture here is genuinely mixed depending on the dataset. What’s consistent across sources is that South Dakota’s cost of living runs well below the national average, and housing remains accessible in a way that’s increasingly rare across the American West and South. For residents who value economic stability, low taxation, and wide open spaces over urban density, it continues to deliver on those counts.
What This Means For You
All but five U.S. states grew between July 2024 and July 2025, with California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, and West Virginia losing population – which means the gap between states people stay in and states people leave is widening. If you’re thinking about relocating, the data from 2025 and 2026 points consistently toward a handful of states where residents arrive and don’t look back. South Carolina, North Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, Georgia, Delaware, Oregon, Texas, and South Dakota all appear in multiple inbound migration datasets, and all share at least two of three factors that consistently drive retention: low taxes, attainable housing, and a growing job market.
The practical question isn’t which state tops a ranking, but which combination of those factors matches your household’s priorities. If take-home pay is the primary driver, Tennessee, Texas, and South Dakota offer zero state income tax. If affordability per square foot is the metric, West Virginia’s price-to-income ratio of 2.9 is unmatched nationally. If career access matters most alongside manageable costs, Delaware and North Carolina sit in a category of their own. The mortgage rate lock-in effect – where homeowners hesitate to move because selling means trading a historically low rate for a much higher one – makes any move a bigger commitment than it was five years ago, which makes choosing correctly the first time more consequential than ever.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.
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