Louisville, Ky.; Evansville, Ind.; and Athens, Ga., are among the best metro areas for relocating families, according to a report released this week.
Worldwide ERC, an association for global employee relocation, and Primacy Relocation, a relocation provider, worked with Bert Sperling of Sperling’s BestPlaces in developing the list.
Louisville was ranked as the top area for relocating families among U.S. metro areas with population of 500,000 or more, according to the announcement; Evansville topped the list among mid-sized metro areas with a population of 250,000 to 500,000; and Athens topped the list of small metro areas with a population of 50,000 to 250,000.
The top-10 large metro areas for relocating families are: Louisville, Ky.; Austin-San Marcos, Texas; Denver, Colo.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Jose, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Md.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Harrisburg, Pa., according to the report.
The top-10 mid-sized metro areas for relocating families are: Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Boulder-Longmont, Colo.; Burlington, Vt.; Lafayette, La.; Erie, Pa.; Fort Collins, Colo.; Clarksville, Tenn.; and Montgomery, Ala.
The top-10 small metro areas for relocating families are: Athens, Ga.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Yolo County-Davis, Calif.; Hattiesburg, Miss.; Bellingham, Wash.; Missoula, Mont.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Bryan-College Station, Texas; Iowa City, Iowa; and Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.
ERC executive vice president H. Cris Collie said in a statement, “Relocating the right talent to the right location is a critical element in today’s business strategy, and spouse and family concerns play a significant role in whether the employee accepts an offer to move. So addressing a combination of family needs makes for a more successful relocation.”
“A number of measurable features can affect the ease with which a family can move to a city and the ease of settling into a new life there,” according to the announcement. “Traditional factors such as commute times, tax rates and average home cost and appreciation are combined with more diverse cost of living and quality of life variables — like the ability to qualify for in-state tuition, the service quality of local utilities, auto taxes, and per-capita volunteerism.”
Also, fee and occupancy rates for temporary housing and mini-storage services can impact transition to a large city. “The quality and availability of elder-care and assisted-living reflect a city’s investment in the needs of modern, multigenerational families.”
“Even the best-planned employee relocation policy can’t ease all the burden of unfamiliar local bureaucratic hassles and unexpected costs,” said
Michelle Vallejo, Primacy America president, said the company seeks to inform the relocation industry and relocating employees about the many issues that factor into a relocation.
Worldwide ERC is a membership association that represents about 10,000 corporate and government relocation managers, real estate companies, appraisers, and other service firms and individuals from industries that address relocation-related workforce issues.
Primacy Relocation is a full-service domestic and international relocation provider that offers services including home sales, destination services, household goods move management, program administration, and international assignment (expatriate) support.
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