Last week I wrote about new Census Bureau data which show that Minnesota lost 8,700 residents net in 2023.
To put that in context, as Figure 1 shows, Minnesota’s net loss of residents to other parts of the United States in 2023 was larger than in all but ten other states. The top five destinations for domestic migrants were Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas. The top five sources of domestic migrants were Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and California.
Figure 1: Net domestic migration, 2023
Sometimes I’m told that bigger losses for bigger states work out about the same as smaller losses for smaller states. So, what do these numbers look like as a rate per 100,000 of the population?
Figure 2 gives the answer. Minnesota’s net loss of residents to other parts of the United States per 100,000 of its population is worse than in all but twelve other states. Here, the top five destinations for domestic migrants in the United States are Delaware, North Carolina, Vermont, South Carolina, and North Dakota. The Carolinas hold their position. The top five sources of domestic migrants were Louisiana, Alaska, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. This time, New Jersey and New York held their spots.
Figure 2: Net domestic migration, 2023, per 100,000 of the population, 2023
Whichever way you look at it, Minnesota is one the biggest losers of residents in the United States.