Prairie State Wire

The ratio of in-migration to out-migration in Illinois stood at 0.61 by mid-2022, meaning the Prairie State lost the third greatest share of its residents among all the states, according to a new study from the moveBuddha website.

The moving services website’s analysis found that 13% of Americans moved annually before the COVID-19 pandemic. But more than halfway through 2022, a slowdown in state-to-state migrations is taking place, according to moveBuddha.

Dense urban states such as Illinois, New Jersey and California all recorded more outbound moves than inbound moves, the study found. Affordability challenges and issues such as high property taxes have helped to exacerbate these trends, according to the researchers.

Another driver in these migration trends involves more opportunities for remote workers during the pandemic, moveBuddha reported. Urban dwellers have discovered they can move to more affordable, less populated cities while doing the work they were trained for, the study said.

Four of the top 10 most common “escape” routes in Illinois start in Chicago, with many ending in Florida cities, the report said. And Hawaii and Alaska had the lowest shares of their populations leaving for greener pastures.

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In- to Out-Migration Ratios Among the States in 2022 

Rank	State	2020 In-to-Out Ratio
1	Hawaii	2.61
2	Alaska	2.42
3	Montana	2.11
4	Maine	2.1
5	South Carolina	1.95
6	North Carolina	1.83
7	Wyoming	1.81
8	Florida	1.74
9	Tennessee	1.72
10 (tie)	Arkansas	1.52
10 (tie)	Oklahoma	1.52
12	Texas	1.37
13	South Dakota	1.33
14 (tie)	Colorado	1.29
14 (tie)	Mississippi	1.29
16	Georgia	1.25
17 (tie)	Idaho	1.23
17 (tie)	New Mexico	1.23
19 (tie)	Alabama	1.14
19 (tie)	North Dakota	1.14
21	Arizona	1.07
22 (tie)	Delaware	1.06
22 (tie)	Kentucky	1.06
24 (tie)	Vermont	1.03
24 (tie)	New Hampshire	1.03
24 (tie)	West Virginia	1.03
27	Nevada	1.02
28	Oregon	1.00
29	Wisconsin	0.99
30 (tie)	Kansas	0.95
30 (tie)	Missouri	0.95
32	Washington	0.94
33 (tie)	Indiana	0.92
33 (tie)	Iowa	0.92
35	Massachusetts	0.88
36	Michigan	0.87
37	Minnesota	0.85
38	Pennsylvania	0.82
39 (tie)	Nebraska	0.81
39 (tie)	Ohio	0.81
41	Virginia	0.8
42 (tie)	Rhode Island	0.72
42 (tie)	Connecticut	0.72
44 (tie)	Maryland	0.71
44 (tie)	Utah	0.71
46	Louisiana	0.7
47	New York	0.69
48	Illinois	0.67
49	New Jersey	0.53
50	California	0.51

Source: moveBuddha.com