Study: State was third for inbound movers

Tennessee had the third highest proportion of people moving in vs. out of state in 2023, according to a recent study from Allied Movers, a nationwide moving company.

Tennessee trailed South Carolina, the top state, and Arizona. It topped North Carolina and Florida, respectively, rounding out the top five.

Among those moving in or out of Tennessee in 2023, 60.8% were moving in, and 39.2% were moving out. It was the third consecutive year more than 60% were moving into the state.

Those moving to Chattanooga specifically came from cities such as Chicago, Tampa, Dallas and Baltimore.

Chattanooga didn’t rank among the top cities for new residents from out of state. Nashville, however, ranked no. 4 behind Charleston, South Carolina; Tucson, Arizona; and Charlotte, North Carolina, respectively.

Dan Reuter, executive director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, said in a phone interview Chattanooga’s growth follows the South’s urbanization over the past half-century.

“There’s just an attraction to the South,” Reuter said. “In the future, we’ll get all the growth we could possibly want. It’s just like kind of the natural thing in some ways.”

The Allied study cited factors such as housing costs and inflation spurring the move to the South.

Eric Myers, executive director of the Chattanooga Design Studio, a nonprofit group, said in a phone interview Chattanooga is attractive because of its access to the outdoors.

“Access to the river, access to the mountains,” Myers said. “Hiking, biking, etc.”

“Our proximity in the region is really quite unique, where you could be in any number of larger metros within about two hours,” Myers said. “You can be entertained or have other types of entertainment of a much larger city.”