Key reasons for moving included a lack of jobs, high living costs, taxes, and extreme weather.  

DailyMail.com recently revealed that Arkansas surprisingly attracted the most newcomers in 2024.

The southern state was followed by Rhode Island, North Carolina, Washington D.C and Idaho. 

Now, new data from Atlas Van Lines highlights the five states with the highest outbound moves last year.

Lack of jobs 

Louisiana was the state that saw the most residents leave last year. And the main motivation for those fleeing was limited job opportunities, according to the Shreveport Times. 

The unemployment rate in Louisiana was 4.3 percent in November, slightly above the national average of 4.2 percent.

Louisiana was also ranked the fourth-worst state for life expectancy in the country, according to a recent study by the Life Extension Foundation.  

High cost of living 

After years of sky-high inflation and increasing housing costs, the cost of living has become a major factor for relocations, Realtor.com reported.

California and New York were also among the top five states losing residents last year. Scroll down to see the full list and ranking. 

The Golden State has the second highest cost of living in the US, while the Empire State was ranked fifth in a recent study by The Council for Community & Economic Research.

Many people fled Los Angeles because of the increasingly unaffordable cost of housing, Jameson Tyler Drew, president of Anubis Properties told Realtor.com.

'Compared to other metro areas, L.A. is one of the most expensive places to live and raise a family,' he told the publication.  

'Full-time day care can cost the same as a mortgage payment per child in the city of LA, so many families seek their futures elsewhere.'

Property taxes can also be in the five figures for new homebuyers in the area, he added.