As I move about town, I always notice out of state tags license plates.  Some could be rental cars but others are folks that are considering or have recently called the Carolinas home.  The most predominant place I’ve noticed in the last year are from Maryland (former home of Jonathan Osman and Amanda Cox) followed by Virginia, Texas, and Florida.

Atlas Van Lines tracks where their customers are moving to and publishes the data on their website.  Of the 80,289 interstate and cross border relocations that Atlas transacted, North Carolina ranked 5 for the number of inbound shipments with 3,975 total.  North Carolina was one of only eleven states where more inbound moves were 55% or more than the total relocations (inbound and outbound).

2011 also represented a high water mark for inbound moves, with 3,975 , the highest since the recession hit North Carolina in 2007.  Outbound was also the highest since 2008 as 2,575 left the state to move elsewhere.

South Carolina was far more balanced with 1,758 relocations inbound (highest since 2008) and 1,893 outbound (the highest in the report’s 10 year history).

Read more about the study on the Atlas Van Lines site.