Where People Are Moving To and From
A few weeks back I shared a link to where people were moving to and from. The data source is United Van Lines (click here to see the main report). For some reason I am fascinated by this data. Not sure why. Regardless, their 2019 report just was released and I wanted to share some highlights.
First of all, as a Buckeye, I wanted to know where Ohio stood. It is still in the bottom ten of states as far as moving states. Basically, more people continue to move out of Ohio than into Ohio. Last year we ranked 44 and we moved up one giant slot to 43. Yay? I heard somewhere recently that all the new population growth in Ohio is actually centered in Columbus.
Some interesting data when it comes to Ohio. First, the two primary reasons people move in and out of Ohio are due to jobs and family, with jobs leading by a great margin. For inbound, there is a tie when it comes to ages of who is moving in. Those 65+ and between 35 and 44. For outbound, it is those above 55+ leading the pack. Finally, when looking at income, the highest income earners are both moving in and out. I’d like to be able to give you specific numbers, but I only have percentages and those can be misleading. Regardless, 57.8% of the moves related to Ohio were outbound, which is not a good trend.
When it comes to the top ten states for people moving in they are, in order – Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, South Carolina, Washington, District of Columbia, Florida, South Dakota (really), North Carolina, and New Mexico. You’ll notice a few of these states are highlighted. According to the Tax Foundation, they are states that are in the Top Ten when it comes to “State Business Tax Climate.”
Looking at the other end, the bottom ten states, in order, are – New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, Kansas, Ohio, California, Michigan, North Dakota (must’ve all moved one state south), and Iowa. Again, a few highlighted states here. Just like with population moves, these are states in the bottom ten of the Tax Foundation’s “State Business Tax Climate.”
I’m not sure if there is a true connection between taxes and where people move, but I’m sure there is at least an indirect connection. I mean, UT, NV, MT, and WY all are in the top ten when it comes to taxes, but none of them are in the top ten for inbound moves. At the same time, DC ranks 46 when it comes to tax climate, but #7 for inbound moves.
There are lots of great resources on the Tax Foundation’s page. I’m sure if you looked hard enough you could find some patterns. I mean, they even rank states on how they tax beer. TN has the highest beer tax and Wyoming the lowest, in case you’re wondering. Let me know if you find any weird patterns!