United Van Lines: Americans Continue Moving Out of Higher-Tax States

While Americans continued to move out of higher taxed blue states in 2021, migration patterns were different than they were in 2020, a report by United Van Lines indicates.

United Van Lines customers primarily moved for new jobs or to be near family, resulting in their destination states being more varied than they were in 2020 when they primarily moved to western and southern states from northern states, its 45th Annual National Migration Study found.

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A Record Number of Minnesotans Moved to Other States This Year

New Census Bureau population data show that Minnesota’s population grew by just 225 people in 2021. One particularly alarming aspect of this was a loss of 13,453 residents to other states. This was our state’s biggest net loss of domestic migrants to other states in at least 30 years.

As Figure 1 shows, until 2001 Minnesota received more residents from other states each year than it lost to them. Since then, in all except for two years, 2017 and 2018, our state has seen more residents leave than have chosen to come here from elsewhere in the United States. The loss of residents in 2021 might be especially large, but it is not a new development.

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Commentary: Why Americans Are Staying Put, Instead of Moving to a New City or State

by Thomas Cooke   The story of America is one of moving. A total of 13.6% of Americans today were born in another country, and most of us are descended from immigrants. This story of migration also includes moving within the country. Over the last 200 years, Americans have settled the frontier, moved away from cities toward suburbs and migrated away from cities in the Northeast toward the South and West. This narrative that Americans are constantly moving within the country is no longer true. Over the last 35 years, the number of Americans who have moved – within their county, state or out of state – has steadily declined to nearly half of their previous levels. Between March 2018 and 2019, only 1.5% of Americans moved from one state to another, and 5.9% moved from one home to another while remaining in the same county. Why are Americans more rooted? The decision to move is a complex one. People are often searching for better opportunities but must also take into account factors like family characteristics, lifestyle and community. I have studied American migration for over 20 years, and I see no evidence linking the migration decline to changes in…

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Commentary: To All the Disillusioned Bredesen Supporters, Illinois Awaits

by Marshall Towe   One of the enduring beauties of America is our freedom of movement. Citizens easily migrate between States, unregulated, for things such as schooling, employment, retirement or just better weather. After reading the November 8th, 2018 article in The Tennessee Star by Chris Butler chronicling many Bredesen supporters taking to social media with threats of leaving Tennessee, there is a clear message to be conveyed: Illinois wants you! For years now, hundreds of people per day immigrate to Tennessee, one of the fastest growing States, while Chicago, in Cook County, in the State of Illinois have topped the list of most population lost in each the these category for years. For those Bredesen supporters upset with the election result and the direction of Tennessee, nothing can beat a debt-ridden Illinois, where its $225 billion debt is tops in the country, with the added benefit of a bond rating one notch above junk. Tennessee, with its constitutionally mandated balanced budget and State Government with the fiscal responsibility to manage its budget to an annual surplus while accumulating a rainy day fund, is not for you. It is a guarantee that Chicago will welcome and embrace you with open arms,…

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