DENVER – The influx of people moving to Colorado appears to be slowing as more people choose to leave the state for other locales, and that begs the question – where are they going?
The Denver Post on Sunday reported that the high cost of housing, low pay and bad traffic are among the top factors forcing some residents out of the state.
The Post looked at the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which showed that 223,000 people moved to Colorado from other states in 2016, while 193,000 people moved away. That net migration figure of 30,000 is the lowest in seven years, the Post reported.
Net migration is a calculation of the number of people who moved to a location minus the number of people who moved away.
So, where are people going?
The Census numbers show that Washington was by far the most popular destination for people leaving Colorado last year, with a net migration of 8,525 people.
Here are the 10 states with the highest numbers of people who moved there from Colorado in 2016, with net migration figures:
- Washington: 8,525
- Arkansas: 2,651
- Nebraska: 2,507
- Idaho: 1,507
- Montana: 1,187
- Kentucky: 985
- Minnesota: 966
- Wisconsin: 886
- Texas: 871
- Massachusetts: 850
Overall, more people continue to move to Colorado than move out, and more than 8,000 of those 30,000 new residents came from Illinois alone.
Here are the 10 states with the highest numbers of people moving to Colorado in 2016:
- Illinois: 8,112
- New York: 5,149
- California: 4,369
- Virginia: 3,879
- Florida: 3,666
- Georgia: 2,791
- Tennessee: 2,343
- Connecticut: 2,320
- Michigan: 2,165
- North Carolina: 1,774
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