Bellhops study: A lot of people are moving to Tennessee, but what’s love got to do with it?

Tennessee is one of the top five states people are moving to in the U.S., a new study by the Chattanooga-based moving company Bellhops shows.

While jobs are a main reason people are moving, especially in growing states like Tennessee, the study also found that love and lifestyle cause many to relocate. Nearly one in five people say they have moved for love and most said they would do it all over again if they had to, the Bellhops study found.

Bellhops, a Chattanooga-based online moving company that provides labor and trucks to help people who move, recently moved Lauren Bushnell from ABC’s The Bachelor to Nashville to live with new husband, country singer Chris Lane. For such cross-country moves, Bellhops’ study found that over 60% of these relationships do work out.

(Read more: Laws of attraction: Drawing new people to the Scenic City is key to economic growth)

Kyle Miller, director of brand and communications for Bellhops, said the “State of Moving” study of moving trends underscored the diversity of reasons why people relocate based upon money, location, community and relationships. Bellhops researchers reviewed census data, academic research and social media mentions to help it better understand how and why people move and use its services.

According to the latest information published by the U.S. Census Bureau, about 14% of the U.S . population, or about 40 million people a year, relocate where they live. The Bellhops study found:

* The top states people are moving to are, in order, Idaho, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina

* The top states people are moving from are, in order, Illinois, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland

* The top months for moving are, in order, April (34%), June (32%) and July (20%).

“That means more than 80% of people move each year in the U.S. during “peak move” seasons, which is valuable for us to know as we plan and deliver our services ” Miller said.

Bellhops was founded in 2011 by Cameron Doody and Stephen Vlahos at Auburn University in Alabama as a way to provide college students an easy way to move into and out of their college dorms. Doody and Vlahos later relocated to Chattanooga and, with the backing of the Chattanooga-based venture capital firm the Lamp Post Group, grew Bellhops into a national moving company to provide movers or “Bellhops” for those needing assistance carrying or packing their furniture, boxes and other household items from one place to another.

The company completed its 200,000th move in November and last year Bellhops carried more than 4 million boxes and moved goods over 365,516 miles for those moving in or to the 74 cities it now serves in 30 states. The top moving cities for Bellhops last year were Atlanta, Dallas and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Last year, Doody stepped down as CEO of Bellhops, although he remains its biggest shareholder even after the 9-year-old startup has raised more than $56 million in equity capital through a number of funding rounds.

The original article was published by the Chattanooga Times Free Press and posted at https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2020/jan/11/moving-trends/512584/