Alisha Kim, Research Economist, Economic and Business Research Center
Author’s note: Thanks to Arizona’s state demographer, Jim Chang, for reminding us about this dataset.
One indicator of the attractiveness of a state’s quality of life, cost of living, and economic success is net migration. The 2019 1-year American Community Survey (ACS) data provides a measure of respondents’ mobility between states in the last year. For example, based on the population of persons 25 years and older, Arizona had the third highest net migration behind only Florida and Texas. Exhibit 1 illustrates net migration of persons 25 years and older in 2019. Exactly half of the 50 states had positive net migration which indicates that more people moved into the state than moved out of the state.
Exhibit 1: Arizona Attracted Many More Migrants Than It Lost to Other States in 2019
Highly skilled workers are particularly sought after by large and small business in the state. Exhibit 2 illustrates net migration of persons 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Arizona ranked sixth out of the 19 states with positive net migration in that category.
Exhibit 2: On Net, Arizona Attracted 18,754 High-Educated Migrants from Other States in 2019
Exhibit 3 below lists total net migration by state for persons 25 years and older, as well as at each education level, sorted by net migration in the bachelor’s plus post graduate category.
Exhibit 3: Net Migration by State by Detailed Level of Educational Attainment
