Americans staying put, but those who move are heading to no-tax states

By Bloomberg News

November 27, 2011 6:01 am ET

The percentage of Americans who changed residences reached its lowest point last year in more than six decades, according to the Census Bureau.

Those who did move often relocated for employment reasons, and many went to states with no individual income tax.
Barely one in nine people, or 11.6%, changed locations in 2010-11, the lowest total since the government began tracking the figure in 1948, according to the bureau. The percentage of Americans who have moved has declined annually since 1985, when 20.2% relocated.
“Although many of us still move over the course of a year, we are now less likely to do so,” Alison Fields, chief of the bureau's migration statistics branch, wrote in a report.
Most moves were for employment-related reasons, according to one of four mobility-related studies released by the bureau.
The government reported that 43.9% of people who moved more than 500 miles in 2008-09 did so for work reasons. Just 11.6% of people moved long distances for housing.
A separate study based on the American Community Survey showed the most common move in 2009-10 was from California to Texas (68,959).
California accounted for several of the most common moves from one state to another. Some 47,164 Californians moved to Arizona, 39,468 to Washington and 35,472 to Nevada.
None of those three states has particularly high tax rates. California has the highest taxes in the nation.
The second-most-common relocation was from New York to Florida (55,011), according to the bureau. In third place was the 49,901 people moving from Florida to Georgia.
Texas and Florida have no state income tax on individuals.
In another study, the Census Bureau reported that a majority of Americans lived in their state of birth. Louisiana had the most home-grown residents at 78.8% of its population. Michigan was next with 76.6%, Ohio with 75.1% and Pennsylvania with 74%.
Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and the District of Columbia had fewer than 40% of natives in residence.

Take it easy when you move!

Moving can be one of the most stressful events in anyone's life.  So many of our customers are moving because they want to; to be closer to family, to retire, or to take a new job.  Since many of our customers are in the over 50 years old category, they need to take their time and spread the many activities over a longer period of time.  Other considerations are the many physical things that need to be done in preparing for the move. 

We're not as young as we used to be, and many of the physical activities in moving should be completed with some thought and in advance.  If you going to do a lot of the packing yourself, do it over time. Pack a few boxes each day, rather than try to do it all in the week prior to the scheduled move.  If you leave this to the end, the chances are you will either physically "beat yourself up" or not complete the packing necessitating the movers to finish and charge you for the service; perhaps increasing the cost of the move beyond what you initially thought.  Next, DON'T over pack your boxes,  Too many people over pack the boxes to the point where it is impossible to pick them up, or to move them.  If you are doing the packing yourself, the chances are your going to have to move the boxes around your house during the process.  Its not the number of boxes your will be charged for in the move its the totally weight of your entire household.  So, give yourself a break and keep the weight of the boxes manageable for you and your movers. Over packing the boxes will also make them more susceptible to breaking or the contents being damaged during the move. 

When packing notate what you are putting in each box.  Particularly if you are packing over a period of time, keeping an inventory list of what is in each box will be helpful when you arrive at your new location.  It will also assist you in keeping track of what is loaded on the truck and what arrives. 

Plan ahead so you are present while the moves are at your house on both ends.  If need be, get a relative or friend to assist you at each end.  Sometimes moving day can be stressful with a lot of things going on with the movers and yourself.  Having an extra set(s) of hands can make this day much less stressful.  This goes for both the origin and destination moving days!  Many people say that the unloading was far to busy for them to keep track of the inventory and to notate any irregularities in the arriving shipment.  Well, that extra person helping you will certainly make it much more manageable. 

Check out hotels or alternate places to stay in both origin and destination ahead of time. Periodically, due to unforeseen circumstances, the schedule does not go quite as planned.  Having "Plan B" already thought out will be very helpful.  Find places you will enjoy staying at.  You may decide to make your move a mini vacation.

These are but a few of the things you can do to 'take it easy " during your move.  Make the most of it, and enjoy it! 

And last but not least, call Consumers Relocation to assist you in planning and setting up all of the arrangements to moving your household goods , personal effects and autos.

Unemployed and want to move for work?

With today's unemployment and so many professionals out of work, many people are considering moving to locations where job prospects might be better, or the cost of living less.  Moving without a job can be scary, but proper planning and strategies can often make your move successful. 

Certain pockets of the country have been particularly hard hit with unemployment.  Future job prospects in areas rich with industries looking for skilled professionals can be the answer to finding a job.  Many times people say that the best place to be is where the employer is looking for skilled employees.  Planning can help you get there.  Some things to think about in pulling a move off successfully without a job.

Find the hot locations that will fit your skills

Determine where your most marketable, and fit those skills to the hot job market.  Silicon Valley for high tech, New York for financial, as an example,  Research the employment and the number of job openings.  We are hearing companies are wanting to hire a number of people in certain disciplines, but only a fraction of the positions have been filled due to unqualified applicants!  Find those companies and locations where the labor pool is insufficient for the jobs that are open. 

Find a place to live while you still have a job

Landlords will be looking at income and employment.  If you have a spouse or significant partner perhaps they could move first providing the employed partners employment information as proof of income.

Get a local cell phone
Local contact information will help to get the attention of an employer.  If you don't have a local address then at least get a local cell phone number.


Be Creative

These are only a few tips.  Once you get into the mind set of making this happen, you will be able to determine many more creative things that can be done to get the new employers attention in the new area.

And of course, once your ready to move your things, you need to contact Consumers Relocation to be sure you make the most of the money you do have in shipping your household goods and personal effects.

Last minute details when moving

Things come up sometimes right at the last moment when you least expect them when moving.  LA, issued a Red Flag Parking restriction yesterday at 4 pm lasting 11/2 and 11/3.  The LA Fire Department issues these warnings when the risk of brush and other types of fires is high.  The intent to to avoid clogged roads due to parked vehicles in difficult to pass areas such as narrow streets, or tight corners.  The listing on their site extensive and listed by property address including about 15,000 address', but doesn't look like it is entire streets, just specific address'.  Soooo, if you are moving today, from one of the address' this might come as quite a surprise just when you think all is all set.  Often times the mover is not aware of the restriction due to it being so property address specific.  Their site does have a property search, but... it is not working.   Best thing to do is alert the mover as soon as you are aware of something like this, so they can come up with an alternate solution.

The site address for this particular alert is

http://lafd.org/redflag/