2022 Outlook & Trends for the Moving Industry
With mortgage rates at historic lows and the ability to telework, US residents moved in droves during the pandemic. This trend is expected to continue well into 2022 and beyond as remote work continues to be an option favored by both employers and employees.
According to a study by MyMove of US Postal Service records, filings for mail forwarding from February to July 2020 reached more than 15.9 million in 2020—up 3.92% from the same time the previous year. Many of these moves showed people were fleeing high-cost states and districts, such as New York, California, and Washington, D.C., for states with more favorable cost of living economic structures, such as Florida and Texas. Nevada also emerged as the new residence choice of many during the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, it was the nation's most moved-to state, according to migration data from tracking website Updater, which analyzed roughly 300,000 US moves.
Cities that lost the most residents during the pandemic in 2020 include New York City, Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, while six cities in Texas are on the list of the top 50 cities that gained population during that time. Others include Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Nashville.
People also ditched apartments and homes in highly populated cities during the pandemic, seeking more living space—both indoors and outdoors—in smaller cities and the suburbs. Of these migrations, there was a 2% increase in moves that were permanent over the same time in 2019, and a 27% increase in temporary moves over 2019’s figure.
How You Can Profit from the Growing Moving Trend
All of these moves, whether from state to state, city to suburbs, or city to city, add up to one trend—there’s plenty of money to be made in the moving and junk hauling business. Customers moving in or moving out usually need junk hauling services also, which is why College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® franchises have done so well nationwide by combining the two functions.
Listed within the top 3% of all franchise opportunities in the United States, College HUNKS is rapidly building a national presence in the stress-free junk removal and moving space with over 150 franchise locations operating nationwide. We added 25 new franchisees and five corporate stores in 2019—more than in 2017 and 2018 combined. In 2020—even during the COVID-19 pandemic—we continued to build our brand and bring more franchisees into the College HUNKS network.
In 2021, College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving broke records with the sale of 50 new franchise locations. Our HUNKS worked hard all year and their hard work translated into surpassing the 2 million meals mark in our partnership with U.S. Hunger because every completed job equals 2 meals for hungry families. Franchise Business Review and Entrepreneur named College HUNKS 2021 the Top Franchise for Veterans. And last year, College HUNKS along with 10 of our franchise owners were named on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list. We were thankful to be able to continue to assist with free moves for domestic violence survivors in 2021 as well.
2020 was a banner year for College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving as a franchisor and for our franchise partners as well. In 2020 College HUNKS’ systemwide revenue grew 17% year over year to $145,973,221, while franchisee net income as a percent of revenue increased 39% year over year. College HUNKS’ Net Promoter Score, a metric used to measure customer loyalty, increased to 86, up from 79 in 2019.
The corporate-supported call center booked 313,000 jobs for franchise owners in 2020, up from 278,000 in 2019, and its overall booking activity increased from 68.2% in 2019 to 75.4% in 2020. In addition, the center generated $4.8 million in additional revenue in 2020 from Open Leads (individuals that did not book on the first call to the company, but that Call Center teams reached back out to).
College HUNKS’ average job size also increased by $31 per job year over year, while the franchisee average acquisition cost per job decreased by 12% year over year to $7. Our network of franchisees grew to more than 150.
Get in Early to Profit from the Moving Trends in Key US Cities
New opportunities for entrepreneurs to be the next College HUNKS success story are now available in several cities where getting in on the ground floor of the moving and junk hauling growth trend is profitable.
Check out the opportunities in these new College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving markets:
- New Orleans – With economic growth on the rise in New Orleans, there has never been a better time to own a moving and junk removal franchise in "The Big Easy".
- Salt Lake City – "Red Hot" is the way US News & World Report describes Salt Lake City’s economy and population growth, even amid the pandemic.
- Phoenix – As the fourth most populous state capital in the nation, Phoenix is growing in both population and economic opportunities every year.
- Memphis – Now the largest city located along the Mississippi River, Memphis is also the fifth-largest city in the southeastern United States and the 20th largest city in the nation.
- Cleveland – Home to more than 2 million people, the Cleveland area has a population density that exceeds the average for metropolitan regions nationwide.
- Boston – Described by the New York Times as a city that has turned its population growth rate around, Boston grew 9.3% between the 2010 and 2020 US Census counts.
- California (Sacramento, Thousand Oaks, Temecula) – These cities have the winning combination of affluence and proximity to densely populated Los Angeles.
The Moving Business is Big Throughout the US
The moving services market size in the US is an impressive $18.5 billion in 2021, reflecting year over year growth of 5.4%, according to Ibis World research. With the active housing market expected to continue into 2022, the industry is set to keep on growing.
Get started on your profitable path to successful entrepreneurship as a business owner with a College HUNKS Moving & Hauling Junk franchise. Our franchise development team will gladly answer all of your questions and explain what you can expect when you franchise with College HUNKS. Call us today!