Photo by Chris Rief

Anyone hoping for a leveling off in the local rental market can probably hang their heads in sadness with these statistics: According to Atlas Van Lines, one of the biggest moving companies in the United States, D.C. was the most popular destination for people who changed residences in 2012.

Of moves that involved the District of Columbia, 63 percent were for people headed for new homes here. That certainly matches up with the District’s growing population, which topped 632,000 in figures released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau and continues to grow at a steady clip of 1,000-1,100 every month. North Dakota was the second-most popular destination, with 61 percent of moves there bringing people in. But unlike the Roughrider State, D.C. is not in the middle of an oil rush.

Moreover, D.C. was also the most popular place to move to over the past decade, with 68 percent of moves resulting in new residents.

The most popular places to leave were Wyoming and Nebraska, which both saw 59 percent of moves headed outbound; New York was third with 58 percent. Wyoming, by the way, learned last month that its population is also smaller than D.C.’s.