2024 Migration Patterns in the US

[michaelskis]

In January 2024 Migration Data came out and showed approximately 7.16 million people moved from one U.S. state to another, mostly to the south and to the west.

The "winners" with the most growth were:

Rank	State	In-Movers	Out-Movers	Net Gain
1	Texas	556,156	483,476	+72,680
2	Florida	573,876	506,246	+67,630
3	North Carolina	299,782	241,195	+58,587
4	Arizona	234,926	179,766	+55,160
5	South Carolina	189,333	134,657	+54,676

While the "losers" with the most loss were:

1	California	406,873	661,205	-254,332
2	New York	285,304	415,449	-130,145
3	Illinois	200,326	282,796	-82,470
4	New Jersey	150,849	214,762	-63,913
5	Massachusetts	152,915	182,947	-30,032

When you use percentage of population, it shows a slightly list:

Rank	State	Population (1 Yr Ago)	Net Migration	Net % Gain
1	Vermont	633,268	+9,137	+1.44%
2	Nevada	3,166,350	+41,278	+1.30%
3	South Carolina	5,337,200	+54,676	+1.02%
4	Wyoming	575,059	+5,301	+0.92%
5	Oklahoma	3,993,874	+33,900	+0.85%

Rank	State	Population (1 Yr Ago)	Net Migration	Net % Loss
1	Alaska	736,101	-10,615	-1.44%
2	South Dakota	915,966	-7,299	-0.80%
3	New Jersey	9,374,484	-63,913	-0.68%
4	New York	19,626,421	-130,145	-0.66%
5	Illinois	12,574,677	-82,470	-0.66%

I am always thinking along the terms of why these patterns exist, especially when you see states like South Carolina in both gain number and percentage list and places like New York and Illinois on the both the loss number and percentage lists. Is it the climate, cost of living, politics, or something else. I am thinking in the context of population being a finite and dwindling resource in the future. We already have a birth rate lower than the replacement threshold and if immigration policies continue to tighten up, we will see a net decrease in population at some point in the next couple censuses.

What are your thoughts on why people move. Personally, we left Michigan and moved to the south because of the weather and opportunities.

 

[DVD]

Depends on where you are.

Michigan I'm moving because I hate the cold.
Kansas, well because it's Kansas.
Arizona people leave because they hate the hot.
We get a lot of California and they say it's politics, but when you talk to them it's cost of living.
Jobs of course are a big thing. I know we are increasing job opportunities.
Also, I know a lot of people claim to move to Arizona because of the weather, but I feel like the job opportunities was part of it.

 

[MacheteJames]

I just came back from spending school vacation week in Florida. To me, the (ostensible) benefits of the Sun Belt are rather obvious in a world where air conditioning is ubiquitous. We're in the midst of a brutal winter here in the north - six months of winter starts to feel like living on a spaceship or in a submarine. It feels like you're missing out on life, inside in front of screens or curled up with books trying to make the best of it. The place comes alive May through October but then you're back to being a shut in for another six months. For all the talk of grit and hardiness, most folks are just in front of the teevee or in their cars with the heat on blast running errands.

Meanwhile, there's growth, amenities, and dynamism in the Sun Belt. Less provincialism because there are so many transplants. Southern hospitality abounds. You go out on a Thursday night in February and there's live music, beers on tap, and a volleyball game going on in the town green. It all sort of sells itself if you can overlook the toxic state politics. I get that July and August are sort of like the south's 'winter', as it were, but the sun is still shining and there's opportunity.

 

[mendelman]

Meh. IL's stat is a whooping 0.0065 reduction.

A rounding error's rounding error's rounding error.

(aka 82,740/12,700,000)

 

[bureaucrat#3]

I just came back from spending school vacation week in Florida. To me, the (ostensible) benefits of the Sun Belt are rather obvious in a world where air conditioning is ubiquitous. We're in the midst of a brutal winter here in the north - six months of winter starts to feel like living on a spaceship or in a submarine. It feels like you're missing out on life, inside in front of screens or curled up with books trying to make the best of it. The place comes alive May through October but then you're back to being a shut in for another six months. For all the talk of grit and hardiness, most folks are just in front of the teevee or in their cars with the heat on blast running errands.

Meanwhile, there's growth, amenities, and dynamism in the Sun Belt. Less provincialism because there are so many transplants. Southern hospitality abounds. You go out on a Thursday night in February and there's live music, beers on tap, and a volleyball game going on in the town green. It all sort of sells itself if you can overlook the toxic state politics. I get that July and August are sort of like the south's 'winter', as it were, but the sun is still shining and there's opportunity.

Having lived in fast growing areas of the south my entire life, it fits with what I've heard. Most of AL's in-migration comes from GA, FL, and TN. While all similar in the big picture, we have lower taxes, cheaper land, and lots of expanding industry. We hear from people leaving metro ATL and Nashville almost daily because of work options and lower cost of living. We also see a lot of people moving regionally from Columbus, GA, Montgomery, and other large cities in AL because of quality of life and schools.

Industry and jobs are moving here because we incentivize and rebate the hell out of them. Plus again we have cheap land, cheap taxes, acceptable QofL, meager regulations, and cheap labor. Almost every company asks about union presence of which there is almost none. Lots of people follow the jobs.

A few things have been interesting to me in the last couple of years. We're catching a significant number of people leaving Florida and what I hear is because of cost of living and insurance. The second is that it feels like more young unmarried women and highly educated people are moving elsewhere. While observational, I know a few professors, drs, and professionals that have moved in the last 2-3 years because they don't feel welcome anymore.