More expensive states kept losing people
People moving from one state to anotherfell sharply in 2023, but most states still brought in more people than they lost.
Nearly 7.6 million people moved out of state in 2023 versus around 8.2 million in 2022, marking the lowest level within the last four recorded years, according to the latest state migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The decline in people moving between states follows a surge in state-to-state migration spurred by the pandemic, which caused layoffs and let more people get remote jobs that allowed them to move more freely.
Since then, working from home has become rarer after companies increasingly enforced return-to-the-office policies, making it more difficult to move between states and reap the financial benefits of living in more affordable locations.
Still, most U.S. states in 2023 had positive inflows of people from other states and there were a handful where migration switched from negative to positive, or vice versa.
ConsumerAffairs analyzed the Censuss state-to-state migration flows data to find which states have seen a positive or negative change in migration, found by subtracting the number of people who moved in from people who moved out in 2023.
Where did state-to-state migration turn positive or negative in 2023?
There were four states where migration turned positive, six that turned negative, 26 that stayed positive and 14 that stayed negative.
States where there was a switch between positive and negative migrations of people include Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico.
Mapping of the migration data also shows that more expensive states on the West Coast and Northeast continued to lose people in 2023, while more affordable states in the South kept gaining.
The states where state-to-state migration turned positive in 2023
The four states where state-to-state migration turned positive in 2023 versus 2022 were Colorado, Hawaii, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Below is a ranking of the four states where migration turned positive, based upon the difference between 2023 and 2022.
- Virginia had positive migration of 22,921 people in 2023, versus a negative 15,080 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 38,001 people.
- Colorado had positive migration of 21,293 people in 2023, versus a negative 9,324 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 30,617 people.
- Wisconsin had positive migration of 14,853 people in 2023, versus a negative 895 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 15,748 people.
- Hawaii had positive migration of 461 people in 2023, versus a negative 9,324 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 11,509 people.
The states where state-to-state migration turned negative in 2023
The six states where state-to-state migration turned negative in 2023 versus 2022 were Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire and New Mexico.
Below is a ranking of the four states where migration turned negative, based upon the difference between 2023 and 2022.
- Kansas had negative migration of 15,575 people in 2023, versus a positive 9,650 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 25,225 people.
- New Mexico had negative migration of 244 people in 2023, versus a positive 13,652 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 13,896 people.
- Montana had negative migration of 47 people in 2023, versus a positive 9,682 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 9,729 people.
- New Hampshire had negative migration of 7,058 people in 2023, versus a positive 2.916 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 9,974 people.
- Alaska had negative migration of 5,124 people in 2023, versus a positive 3,808 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 8,932 people.
- Iowa had negative migration of 1,856 people in 2023, versus a positive 1,872 people in 2022. Thats a difference of 3,728 people.
The net migration trends by state in 2023
Overall, most states remained ineither positive or negative territory formigration.
Thattrend was on display over the last three years among the three most populous states of California, Florida and Texas.
Florida continued to gain people over the last three years, although it brought in123,056 fewer people in 2023 than in 2022.
California kept losing people, but the exodus slowed by73,814 people in 2023.
Texas also continued to gain people, but like Florida and most other states staying in positive territory, it brought in40,889 fewer people in 2023.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-10-24 00:32:31
