Moving company: Inbound traffic to state slowing

The number of people moving into Nevada has slowed after 24 years of high inbound traffic, finds an annual study of moving trends by United Van Lines.

United Van Lines' 34th annual migration study, which tracks interstate household moving patterns among the 48 contiguous states, shows that 1,761 households used United Van Line services to move into the state in 2010, while 1,451 households contracted with United to leave the state. The 54.8 percent of incoming shipments to the state is just a hair under the benchmark of 55 percent that denotes high-inbound traffic.

In northern Nevada, neighboring states accounted for a large portion of the relocation business.

Of the 313 households that used United Van Lines to move out of Washoe County in 2010, the overwhelming majority headed to California (54), Arizona (15) and Washington (28), or to heavily populated states such as Florida (18) and Texas (31). Those same states accounted for 128, or 46 percent, of the 277 households that moved into the county last year as well.

More households moved into Carson City and Douglas and Lyon counties than left. United Van Lines moved 11 households into Carson City, while 19 households left the county, and 23 households left Douglas County while 31 headed into the county. Sixty-one percent of the household that entered Douglas County in 2010 came from California. In Lyon County, 24 households moved into the area while 17 left.

Elko County, where construction of the Ruby natural gas pipeline and strong mining operations have helped keep unemployment levels lower than the statewide and national figures, drew far more households into the county than those that left. Twenty-five households departed Elko for various states, while 70 households moved into the county, primarily from Texas (9), Colorado (6) and California (5).