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US Migration Patterns and the Implications for Workforce Attraction

January 2, 2023 Mara Klaunig, MPA

A large moving truck holding furniture, boxes, and other possessions is parked in front of a row of attached single-family homesThe US Census’ American Community Survey tracks geographic mobility (migrations within the US and immigration into the US from abroad) along with the demographics of our migrant population. Explore the data for your region at https://data.census.gov/. Understanding US migration data and demographics can help make workforce attraction efforts more effective.

 

What is the Data About US Migration Telling Us?

In 2021, 42 million people over one year of age — 12.8% of the total US population — migrated into or within the US. And although there have been a lot of news stories recently talking about people moving to different states for family, work, affordability, or political reasons, our county’s migration numbers have actually been decreasing over time with 4.8 million fewer people migrating within the US in 2021 compared to 2013, a decrease of 10.3%.

Most migrants within the US remained within the same region in 2021:

  • 47% of moves were within the same county, a 20.9% decrease over 2013
  • 23.1% were within the same state, an 8.4% increase over 2013
  • 16.8% migrated to a different state, a 9.7% increase over 2013

Immigrants to the US from other countries totaled only 2.8% of migrants in 2021, a dramatic 29.9% decrease over 2013.The chart shows the US Migration Patterns over Time from 2013 to 2021, broken down by the type of move (distance). The data is presented in a stacked area chart, with the total height representing the total number of migrants, in millions, for a given year. The data source is the American Community Survey, 1-year estimates, table S0701. The key takeaways from the "US Migration Patterns over Time" chart are: 1. Overall Decline in Migration The total number of migrants in the US has steadily decreased over the period shown. The overall stacked area begins at approximately 46 million migrants in 2013 and drops to approximately 41.5 million migrants in 2021. This suggests a general trend of reduced mobility among the US population. 2. Dominance of Local Moves Migration "From within the Same County" is the largest component of total migration in every year shown. The volume of these hyper-local moves also shows a steady decline, dropping from approximately 28 million in 2013 to just over 22 million in 2021. 3. Long-Distance Migration Trends Interstate Moves: Migration "From a Different State" represents a smaller but significant portion of total movement and has remained relatively stable across the period, at around 8 million to 9 million moves per year. International Migration: Migration "From Abroad" is the smallest component of the total. It appears to have declined slightly over the period, consistent with the overall trend.In 2021, the average US migrant was:

  • Younger: 1% of migrants were between the ages of 25 and 34, compared to a median age of 39.2 for the overall US population. The data shows that younger people are more likely to migrate: 26.6% of the population between the ages of 18 to 24 and 22.5% of the 25 to 34 population migrated in 2021.
  • White: 3% of all migrants were White in 2021, followed by Black or African American (13.3%), and Two or more Races (13.2%). However, diverse populations are still more likely to migrate when you look at the percentage of people who were on the move in 2021 within each group’s total population instead of the entire US population: 15.8% of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders migrated in 2021, 14.2% of Asians, and 14.1% of Black or African Americans, compared to only 12.4% of Whites.
  • A college graduate: 39.8% of migrants had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 9.3% had less than a high school education. More educated demographics are also slightly more likely to migrate: 13% of the population with a bachelor’s degree and 12.6% of those with a graduate degree migrated in 2021 compared to 10% for high school graduates.

Why Is This Data Important?

Many communities are looking to attract workers as a means of addressing labor force shortages. Attraction is not likely to be an adequate solution on its own given the relatively small numbers of people that migrate, decreasing migration rates, and the fact that the majority of migration happens within the same region.

When workforce attraction efforts are made, they are more likely to be effective when targeted toward the demographics that are most likely to migrate, including younger, white (in terms of migration volume), and more highly educated workers.

In general, workforce attraction should always be paired with other strategies to build and support the existing workforce, including upskilling, graduate retention, providing soft skills training and wraparound supports, and addressing systemic problems that prevent missing workers from participating in the labor force.

Camoin Associates is a national leader in using research and data analysis to help communities and organizations understand where they are now and develop actionable goals designed to get them where they want to be. Learn more about our services.

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