The nation’s largest interstate moving company and the state’s population experts agree:

People keep on moving to Oregon.

For the second straight year, Oregon ranked No. 1 on United Van Lines’ list of Top Moving Destinations, the company announced Jan. 2.

Of the 4,121 shipments involving Oregon last year, 66.4 percent resulted from people moving to the state, according to the 2014 United Van Lines National Movers Study. South Carolina ranked second in inbound shipments, at 61.4 percent, and North Carolina came in third, at 60.5 percent.

“Unique amenities such as outdoor recreation, arts and entertainment activities and green space protection likely continue to propel Oregon to the top of the list for the second straight year,” Michael Stoll, economist and professor at UCLA, said in a United Van Lines news release.

At the other end of the scale — states with high rates of residents leaving — New Jersey ranked the highest, with 64.9 percent of shipments outbound, followed by New York, 64.1 percent, and Illinois, 63.4 percent.

Several states, such as Tennessee and Rhode Island, had a nearly equal percentage of inbound and outbound shipments, according to the moving company’s 38th annual survey.

Migration into Oregon has contributed more to the state’s population growth than the birth rate for much of the last 40 years, say experts at Portland State University. However, during bad economic times, natural increase — the number of births minus the number of deaths — has contributed more to population growth than net migration — people moving in minus people moving out.

Migration accounted for about three-quarters of the state’s estimated 43,545-person increase from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2014, according to PSU.

At the county level, Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties added the most, with estimated population increases of 9,475, 9,245 and 5,445, respectively, in that time period.

On a percentage basis, however, Deschutes County led the state, adding 3,875 people and growing 2.4 percent between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, according to PSU.