Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania "Brain Drain" states?

GON

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After reading a thread earlier today on BITOG about Parents in Michigan whose adult children moved to Colorado and Florida, it made me think about" Brain Drain" and five states that likely have major symptoms of it. The five states are Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania. I am sure other states may qualify as brain drain states, but I used states with large populations and losing or at risk of loosing congressional seats because of loss of population. I understand New York has NYC which is not at risk of brain drain, but on a macro basis New York state likely is.

Brain Drain is informally defined as the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people from a particular country. I was first exposed to brain drain working in Lithuania. After Lithuania joined the European Union (EO), seemed the vast majority of young adults with highly desirable skills moved to EU countries like England and Germany. Lithuania struggles to progress in its post Soviet Union era, with the vast majority of young people with promise moving out of Lithuania to Western European Countries.

So what will become of states like Illinois, Michigan, etc...... losing its young people to states like Texas, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, etc....?
 
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I am in Western New York. So much of NYS gets overshadowed by policy written in, around or for major cities. While I'm not slamming the city of Buffalo, I have no use for it.

Rural New York... you wouldn't be able to tell it is NY state. Such a shame how wrecked this state will be in 5-10 years. The southern-tier is gorgeous... the south towns of Erie County are beautiful too.
 
122,000 left IL in 2021.
I read an article the number one demographic by percentage to leave Illinois were Illinois public employees with a state pension. And many of these Illinois public employees qualified for a full pension including 100 percent healthcare while in their 40s. That really stinks, because the people left in Illinois have a shrinking base to pay into the grossly underfunded Illinois public employee pension system.
 
I always read about young educated people from the mid-western states seeking better opportunities along the coasts; that seems like a real brain drain as compared to just wealthy people leaving higher tax states for better tax consequences.
 
So what will become of states like Illinois, Michigan, etc...... losing its young people to states like Texas, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, etc....?
While IL is losing it's population, I'm not entirely sure that it's young people driven. Cook Cty and Chicago are continuing to see increases in STEM businesses which are largely fueled by young people. Definitely an interesting topic and something I will need to look into before just using anecdotal experiences as a reference point.
 
I read an article the number one demographic by percentage to leave Illinois were Illinois public employees with a state pension. And many of these Illinois public employees qualified for a full pension including 100 percent healthcare while in their 40s. That really stinks, because the people left in Illinois have a shrinking base to pay into the grossly underfunded Illinois public employee pension system.

Illinois has been one of the top states people have been moving out of for over a decade (California as well). I left Illinois in 2015 and withdrew my pension holdings from the 9+ years I worked for the state government because I don't trust them whatsoever.

I moved to Indiana for two years and then moved to Wisconsin for what I would consider to be a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been amazing for my life. I go back to visit my family and friends in Illinois but I cannot ever see myself moving back permanently. The state government there is quite literally THE WORST.
 
I talk to a number of parents in my area. They are giving their children the best of education and while they can get a job here, the cost of housing makes it nearly impossible to buy a home here.
Of course, the tech companies know this. Working remotely is the new normal.
 
Although Chicago as a whole loses population, it still gains a lot of young people each year.... Ask around at any bar in a trendy neighborhood such as Lakeview and it will seem as if almost everyone is from Iowa or Michigan or from the suburbs. These are people who move to Chicago after college. I highly doubt the same could be said for Illinois' other big cities.... Rockford, Decatur, Peoria, etc.
 
I don't think the OP as a whole has done a great job at defining his 5 brain drain states... Not all in the "lose a congressional seat category" are there for the for the same reasons. I can't speak for the other states, but MInnesota is likely to lose a seat in the next census only because its growth is slower than the southern states - not because of some drain of talent to them necissariliy - and the reality is we've been on that list for the last two census counts as the countries population is redistributed from its historical places.

Don't believe me? Then perhaps take a look at other sources of data...


Have fun...
 
I don't think the OP as a whole has done a great job at defining his 5 brain drain states... Not all in the "lose a congressional seat category" are there for the for the same reasons. I can't speak for the other states, but MInnesota is likely to lose a seat in the next census only because its growth is slower than the southern states - not because of some drain of talent to them necissariliy - and the reality is we've been on that list for the last two census counts as the countries population is redistributed from its historical places.

Don't believe me? Then perhaps take a look at other sources of data...


Have fun...
Minneapolis and Chicago and their metropolitan areas were the two largest cities with the lowest property price increase in the USA over the past year. When I was in Denver last week I saw a handful of Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears flags hung from residences. Not sure I will see many if any Arizona Cardinals or Denver Bronco flags hung from many residences in the greater Minneapolis area.

We loved Minnesota and considered it for a retirement. Minneapolis with its raised enclosed walkways, great health care, etc. We discovered Minnesota today is not the Minnesota of 30 years ago. Now Minnesota ranks 49 out of 50 states (only MD rates worse) in good places to retire. What happened to MN??

The losing or gaining of congressional seats takes away bias and opinion. It makes it very clear who is hot and who is not. Another indicator is Penske truck rentals. I can all but guarantee the rates to rent a truck from Austin, Phoenix, Denver to Minneapolis or Chicago are much cheaper than renting a Penske truck from Minneapolis or Chicago to Denver, Austin, or Phoenix.

You just might have Rose Colored Glasses on. I do admire you love your state.
 
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I’m ok with folks coming here. Just check the BS at the state line. If you like the politics and policies where you came from then stay there. Don’t come here looking to change the culture. And I say this as a moderate leaning no particular direction.

Yep, same goes here in FL with lots of out of state folks.
 
We loved Minnesota and considered it for a retirement. Minneapolis with its raised enclosed walkways, great health care, etc. We discovered Minnesota today is not the Minnesota of 30 years ago. Now Minnesota ranks 49 out of 50 states (only MD rates worse) in good places to retire. What happened to MN??
I wonder if the weather plays a part in the rankings? To the mainstream media, "snow" = "bad", so consequently they might rank Minnesota lower than they would otherwise. Personally, I like winter, so I would like it there.
 
I wonder if the weather plays a part in the rankings? To the mainstream media, "snow" = "bad", so consequently they might rank Minnesota lower than they would otherwise. Personally, I like winter, so I would like it there.
Weather I am sure plays a role and does not help these five states. But states with often significantly worse "snow" like Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are seeing healthy increases in population growth and migration.
 
Gon, you caused me to spend a half hour Googling "Michigan brain drain" and about the only conclusion I could come up with was “change is the only constant in life.” There seems to be many changing factors regarding brain drain and Michigan has been cycling up and down for many decades. Nothing new here. Heck, if this climate thing pans out, in 20 years people will be flocking to Michigan for our moderate conditions!
 
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Gon, you caused me to spend a half hour Googling "Michigan brain drain" and about the only conclusion I could come up with was “change is the only constant in life.” There seems to be many changing factors regarding brain drain and Michigan has been cycling up and down for many decades. Nothing new here. Heck, if this climate thing pans out, in 20 years people will be flocking to Michigan for our moderate conditions!
We have great friends that live in Michigan. They own a excavation company and run a very honest, dependable, and predictable operation. They lost everything, including their home and business in 2008 with the downturn in the economy. The only thing they didn't lose was their Michigan know how and values. They had to move into a trailer. They were able to rebuild their lives and business with a major pipeline going through Michigan. They are doing well today.

I remember a some years ago about a plan that had Michigan being "forced" to export water to the southwest of the USA. Glad it didn't happen....

 
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