by Jon Styf
When Tennessee added nearly 83,000 residents last year from people who moved to the state from elsewhere in the United States, it was likely the largest yearly in-migration in state history.
That’s according to the Tennessee State Data Center, which looked at the U.S. Census Bureau’s data releases for the year ending June 30, 2022.
The data showed that, despite having 9,200 more deaths than births over the year, a total net migration of 90,000 which included 8,000 new residents from international spots, led Tennessee to a 1.2% population increase over that one-year period.
During that time, the state saw 91,183 deaths and 81,970 births.
“Research has shown migration to be pro-cyclical—that it ebbs and flows with the overall state of the economy,” the report said. “People relocate at higher rates during good economic times—often for employment opportunities. However, in slower economic periods—such as the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009—migration contracts.
“That makes it difficult to estimate how long 2022’s elevated domestic migration rate will be sustained and compounds the challenge of projecting the state’s population.”
The report also showed that Tennessee wasn’t alone in the South as the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Texas all saw population increases of more than 1% over the year.
The South region was the only area of the country that added residents due to domestic migration.
California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland lost the most residents.
The U.S. Census Bureau is expected to release county-level population data for both 2021 and 2022 on March 28.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
Photo “Moving Day” by HiveBoxx.
The real estate interests are making a killing and it’s all good so long as no one is under the illusion that the Tennessee of yesterday is going to bear much of a resemblance to the Tennessee of tomorrow.
Growth at any cost is costly growth. I am concerned for Tennessee’s ability to finance absorb this kind of growth.