Bacon's Rebellion

James A. Bacon


 

Gray Matter Migration

The chart below, based on U.S. Census data between 1990 and 2004, ranks the 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) on the net rate at which native-born Americans are emigrating. States at the top of the list with large negative numbers are hemorrhaging the fastest. States with positive numbers, toward the bottom of the list, are gaining population from in-migration.

Thus, an average of nearly 183,000 native-born Americans moved out of New York state each year between 2000 and 2004 than moved into the state. New York replaced some of them with an influx of foreign immigrants, whose numbers are not included here.

The migration of native-born Americans between states is significant because they are better educated and more affluent on average than non-migrants and foreign immigrants. Many are members of the "creative class," a cluster of occupations that accounts disproportionately for artistic, scientific and entrepreneurial innovation. From the perspective of building human capital, they are desirable to capture.

Based on this data, Virginia can be classified as a modest gainer, with a net gain of native-born immigrants over emigrants of roughly 20,500 per year between 2000 and 2004. Compared to other states in the South and the inter-mountain region of the West, though, Virginia exerted only moderate appeal..

Gray Matter Migration

 

Average Annual Number +/-

Average Annual Rate

(per 1,000 residents)

  1990-2000 2000-2004

1990-2000

2000-2004

D.C. -14,648 -10,176 -26.1 -18.1
New York -196,449 -182,886 -10.8 -9.6
Massachusetts -24,836 -42,402 -4.1 -6.6
North Dakota -4,178 -3,999 -6.6 -6.3
Illinois -61,786 -71,854 -5.2 -5.7
Kansas -2,199 -11,469 -0.9 -4.2
Utah 6,754 -9,495 3.5 -4.1
Louisiana -15,531 -16,945 -3.6 -3.8
New Jersey -39,507 -32,147 -5.0 -3.8
Nebraska -920 -5,445 -0.6 -3.1
Iowa -1,941 -8,735 -0.7 -3.0
California -220,871 -99,039 -6.9 -2.8
Michigan -20,540 -28,467 -2.1 -2.8
Ohio -19,653 -31,613 -1.8 -2.8
Hawaii -11,820 -2,053 -10.3 -1.7

Connecticut

-22,798

-4,171

-6.9

-1.2

Oklahoma

5,063

-3,944

1.6

-1.1

Alaska

-3.035

-730

-5.2

-1.0

Mississippi

4,879

-2,528

1.8

-0.9

Indiana

7,878

-4,758

1.4

-0.8

South Dakota

-270

-425

-0.4

-0.6

Minnesota

10,211

-2,587

2.2

-0.5

Pennsylvania

-28,906

-3,399

-2.4

-0.3

Alabama

10.603

99

2.5

0

Wyoming

-344

426

-0.7

0

Wisconsin

9,537

3,401

1.9

0.6

Missouri

10,762

4,752

2.0

0.8

New Mexico

2,979

1,641

1.8

0.9

Maryland

-5,707

5,420

-1.1

1.0

West Virginia

214

2,007

0.1

1.1

Kentucky

10,332

5,404

2.7

1.3

Rhode Island

-6,094

1,334

-6.1

1.3

Vermont

706

925

1.2

1.5

Texas

61,638

36,566

3.3

1.7

Arkansas

12,094

4,873

4.9

1.8

Colorado

43,518

8,280

11.7

1.9

Washington

36,371

13,354

6.8

2.2

Virginia

12,055

20,535

1.8

2.8

Tennessee

37,169

16,634

7.1

2.9

Montana

5,090

3,179

6.0

3.5

Oregon

26,290

12,880

8.5

3.7

S. Carolina

15,423

18,756

4.2

4.6

N. Carolina

58,069

39,137

8.1

4.7

Georgia

72,334

41,298

10.0

4.8

Delaware

3,671

4,765

5.1

5.9

New Hamp.

3,867

7,771

3.3

6.1

Maine

-441

8,159

-0.4

6.3

Idaho

14,166

9,631

12.4

7.2

Florida

112,454

190,894

7.9

11.4

Arizona

62.026

66,344

14.4

12.2

Nevada

46,233

50,803

29.8

23.3

Source: U.S. Census 

Note: These numbers are native-born Americans only. They do not include foreign-born immigrants.

Explanation: States with the biggest negative numbers are the biggest population exporters. States with the biggest positive numbers are growing. The "average annual rate" represents the net number of people -- those who moved into the state versus those who moved out of it -- per 1,000 inhabitants

Significance: People who move tend to be better educated and earn more money than those who stay put..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The   

Economy 4.0

Series

 

Introduction (HTML)

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   Sept. 4, 2007

 

Peak Performance in a Flat World (HTML)

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  Sept. 4, 2007

 

A Bug in the Ointment (HTML)

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   Sept. 17, 2007

 

Measuring Prosperity (HTML)

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   Sept. 17, 2007

 

Dead End (HTML)

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   Oct. 1, 2007

 

Taxes, Government and Prosperity (HTML)

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   Oct. 15, 2007

 

The Ruling Party (HTML)

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    Oct. 29, 2007

 

Hidden Advantage (HTML)

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    November 12, 2007

 

Vision Impaired (HTML)

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    November 12, 2007

 

Education for the 21st Century (HMTL)

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    December 27, 2007

 

Building Human Capital (HMTL)

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    January 14, 2008

 

Tomahawk Chop (HTML)

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    January 28, 2008

 


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Full Disclosure

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I list all paying clients for whom I have worked in the past year. 

 

Accenture: writing

 

AgilQuest: Contract publication of electronic newsletter; writing.

 

Commonwealth Biotechnologies: contract publication of newsletter.

 

Greater Richmond Partnership: Contract publication of four electronic newsletters (Greater Richmond Catalyst, Greater Richmond BioSynthesis, Greater Richmond Logistics, and Working Capital).

 

Piedmont Environmental Council: The PEC provided financial support for the Road to Ruin project, which ended Dec. 31, 2007.

 

CEO Intelligence Services. I am a principal in CEO Intelligence Services, a company that conducts marketplace and political research. (View website.)