|
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..
|
|