Bloomberg did a recent analysis of 2017 US Census data in the country’s 100 largest metros to determine which metros are gaining and which metros are losing from net migration patterns.
The top net migration gainers in 2017 were
- Dallas – +246/daily
- Phoenix – +174/daily
- Tampa – +149/daily
- Atlanta – +147/daily
- Orlando – +125/daily
- Seattle – +116/daily***only non-Sun Belt destination
- Austin – +105/daily
- Charleston – +102/daily
- Las Vegas – +100/daily
The top net migration losers in 2017 were
- Chicago – -156/daily
- New York – -132/daily
- Los Angeles – -128/daily
Break down migration patterns into two channels, nternational and domestic. International migration is the difference between people moving from outside the US to people leaving the US. Domestic migration is the difference between people moving in from another part of the country and subtracting those leaving for another area in the country.
Metros that gained the most from domestic migration in 2017 were Dallas (+59,000 for the year) and Phoenix (+51,000 for the year. Boise (41/daily) and Charleston (28/daily) had 10X the number of domestic migration gains as from international arrivals.
Metros that got the biggest share of their population from abroad in 2017 were Miami, San Jose, Orlando, New York City and Boston-Washington DC tying for fifth. Aside from Orlando, all of these cities lost domestic migrants to other parts of the country.
Seven metros (Albuquerque, Dayton, Philadelphia, Provo, Salt Lake City and Scranton) turned the tide on migration flows. In 2014, all of them had net losses whereas in 2017, all seven had net gains.
Mark Moores, New Mexico state senator in Albuquerque, said, “Now that we have a more competitive business climate (specifically manufacturing) to go with our amazing natural climate, people are rediscovering us.”
