Why Is Almost Everyone I Meet From Michigan? I am an Ohio native (sorry about that) who moved to Michigan in 1975 for a job. I am happy to say that I have never looked back and am happy to me a Michigander/Michiganian by choice, rather than birth. The one thing I have noticed over the years, however, is that an overwhelming majority of people I meet, unless they are foreign-born, tell me that they were born and raised in Michigan. Never one to use anecdotal information as “proof” of a concept, I turned to a statistical source to see how this judgment held up in the light of real data. This source was the Census Bureau’s 2013 1-Year American Community Survey File. I ran the numbers for “place of birth” for all residents in each state. My assumption was almost verified by the fact that Michigan’s 76.9 percent born in State of residence placed it 2nd to Louisiana. I then decided to remove the foreign born population and run the analysis once again. [Michigan ranks 27th, tied with Pennsylvania, in share of its population foreign born – 6.2 percent. Louisiana ranks 40th at 3.9 percent.] This time Michigan vaulted into first place, as shown in the accompanying chart, with 82 percent of its population born in Michigan. Two factors contribute to this result. On the plus side, Michigan natives love their state so much that they never want to leave or, if they do, find themselves coming back to raise families or retire. On the negative side, Michigan is not doing a very good job of convincing folks born elsewhere that they should think about relocating here. It is clear that New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Louisiana are in the same boat. On the other end of the spectrum are Nevada (a state that most natives leave) and Washington, DC, where the residents change with the winds of politics. This latter factor is one that demographers, economic developers, foundations and others have recognized as a major problem that must be solved if Michigan is to grow and prosper. While I have nothing against reaching out to attract fellow baby boomers and retirees, Michigan already finds itself aging faster than most other states and must, therefore, concentrate its efforts on much younger cohorts. I am happy to say that we are making some inroads in this regard. While we have a way to go in becoming a “Millennial Magnet,” (The Detroit metro area ranks 49th out of 50 largest U.S. Metros in its share of Millennial. We exceed only Cleveland.) our share of State of Residence-born 25-34 year olds places us 15th highest in the country. The accompanying chart (showing 4 highest and 5 lowest) shows that few young people are flocking to Rhode Island (a state with recent population losses and high unemployment) or Pennsylvania (again). Virginia and Missouri are more surprising. On the other end we see New York moving from the top in total population to the bottom in 25-34 year olds. The draw of Chicago is seen in Illinois’ ranking. Tennessee and Iowa are the surprises for me. The policies that Michigan needs to promote and the moves that it needs to make are documented by national organizations such as Brookings and the Urban Institute, and at home by the Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Suburbs Alliance and many in the Foundation community. We just need the political will to make it happen.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 20:55:46 +0000
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