New data suggests that the Great American Migration is continuing apace. Plenty of people are pulling up stakes and hitting the road, with some well-established patterns continuing to be seen. The latest U.S. Migration Report compiled by Allied Van Lines shows that the five states with the greatest disparity between the number of residents leaving the state as compared to the number of new people moving in to replace them are all blue states. And topping the list for the fourth year in a row is Illinois. To be clear, we’re not talking about a marginal difference here. The ratio of people migrating away to those moving to the state to live is just shy of two to one. (Just The News)
For the fourth year in a row, Illinois tops the list of states where Americans are fleeing as residents struggle with high taxes, crime and a soft economy, according to a new report from the moving company Allied Van Lines.
Since 2019, Illinois has consistently had more outbound moves than inbound moves with Allied than any other state, according to the moving company’s latest U.S. Migration report.
For the past four years in Illinois, more than 65% of all interstate moves involved residents leaving the state compared to less than 35% of moves that involved people coming to Illinois.
Yes, a 65 to 35 disparity is pretty significant. Far, far more people want to get out of Illinois than want to resettle there. And while Allied doesn’t break it down to individual counties or zip codes, it’s difficult to imagine that Chicago isn’t making up a significant chunk of the exodus. The more rural portions of Illinois appear to have remained more stable by comparison, which only makes sense.
The rest of the top five states in terms of outbound traffic are California, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. One thing that the top five all have in common is the fact that they have Democratic governors. It’s a bit surprising to not see New York State in the top five, though they’re not too far down the list. But in the similar ranking of cities, New York City is definitely number one. Chicago comes in at number 4, with the other three all being in California. More than one-quarter of New York City residents say they plan to leave within the next five years.
Returning to Illinois, this pattern has been in place for a while. Based on census data, it’s one of the only states to register a net total population loss from 2010 to 2020. The state population dropped from 12.83 million to 12.58 million in that decade. If current trends continue, it could fall even further in 2030.
Conversely, the five states with the most people arriving as compared to the number moving out were Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. I was surprised not to see Florida in that group, though they did come in at number six. But keep in mind that these figures aren’t measuring the raw number of people arriving or leaving, but rather the ratio between the two. There are still a lot of people arriving in Flordia and far fewer are leaving. Four of the top six on that list have Republican governors, while Arizona and North Carolina have Democrats.
It would appear that the primary drivers in this type of migration go far beyond simple political affiliation. Movement is driven by crime rates, taxes, and employment opportunities. Cost of living is another big factor, particularly for those who are at or approaching retirement age. All of those factors put together tend to answer the fundamental question that all elected leaders should address. Are we providing a suitable quality of life for our residents? If the answer is yes, keep up the good work. If not, take a look in the mirror and then go see how many moving vans are showing up.
