Coming and Going in Indiana: Recent Migration Trends
Moving around within the United States is one advantage that comes with our freedom and independence. Hundreds of thousands of households move every year, either within their county or state or across states. More than 2 million tons of household goods were moved during 2003 by major carriers, according to a report from the American Moving and Storage Association, traveling 877 million highway miles in the process (see Table 1). Some of those major carriers include Allied Van Lines, Mayflower, and North American Van Lines (in Fort Wayne).
Table 1: Major Carriers Movement, 2003
While most Indiana households didn’t move between 2001 and 2002, thousands of households (56,495) did move to Indiana from another state or country (see Table 2). Most came from neighboring states, such as Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan. Illinois, as usual, topped the list with close to 19 percent of Indiana’s in-migration.
Table 2: Top Ten States with Households Coming to Indiana
While households were moving into our Hoosier state, 57,021 moved out of Indiana during the same year. Of those, most chose Illinois, Florida and Kentucky as their destination (see Table 3). California, often viewed as a major destination site for Indiana migrants, received the same proportion of Hoosiers as came to us from that state (approximately 5 percent).
Table 3: Top Ten States for Households Leaving Indiana
Figures 1 and 2 provide a more detailed view of the recent comings and goings of Hoosier households. Detailed spreadsheets are available for download from STATS Indiana at www.stats.indiana.edu/migration_topic.html.
Figure 1: Percent of Total U.S. Migration to Indiana
Figure 2: Percent of Total U.S. Migration From Indiana
Carol O. Rogers, Executive Editor
Indiana Business Research
Center, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University