In 2009, the most popular reason for customer moves was job-related, at 37 percent for new jobs, 16.3 percent for company transfers and 26.6 percent for retirements
, according to the 2009 Mayflower Customer Relocation Study. The study, conducted by St. Louis-based Mayflower Transit, is based on a comparison of interstate household moves handled by Mayflower among the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., from January through August 2009, as well as from the same period in 2008.

The survey also analyzes moving behavior in each state, with West Virginia experiencing the highest growth of people moving into the state this year (10.8 percent), and Minnesota the largest increase in people leaving (8.3 percent).

Other states that experienced growth in the number of people coming in included Rhode Island at 8.8 percent, North Dakota at 8.5 percent, Kansas at 8.4 percent, and Montana at 7.6 percent.

Those states that topped the list with the largest increase in people leaving include Washington at 7.8 percent, Utah at 6.9 percent, Mississippi at 6.5 percent, and Nevada at 6.2 percent.

Not including job-related reasons to move, personal or health-related reasons got 20.1 percent. About 43.8 percent of all respondents said that they have only moved once in the past five years, while 28.8 percent have moved twice and 27.4 percent have moved three or more times in the same time period.