As Maricopa County evictions rise to 2008 levels, Arizona named most popular state to move to in 2022

PHOENIX - The number of evictions in Maricopa County rose in January to levels not seen since September 2008, despite Arizona becoming the most popular state to move to in 2022.

According to court records, there were 7,031 eviction filings last month. It's a 13% increase from January 2019, which the county considers to be a "normal" amount of evictions before the pandemic.

"I think it is safe to say that landlords are not only back to normal, but surpassing normal," said Scott Davis with Maricopa County Justice Courts.

Meanwhile, a new study has found that Arizona was the most popular state to move to in 2022.

That's according to the moving company Allied Van Lines, who released their annual migration report on Thursday.

After Arizona, the top destination states included South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Tucson was also found to be the top inbound city.

However, the report did find that the total number of moves nationwide dropped by around 20% between 2021 and 2022.

Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and New Jersey saw the most outbound moves last year.

"Those who could afford to relocate, moved south and settled along the Sunbelt, which offered stronger economic opportunities and a lower cost of living than the West Coast or Northeast," the company said in the report. "The most moved to states in 2022 were both affordable and offered better financial security, which explains why states like California lost residents to Texas and Arizona." 

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