Stan Freeman, writing in The Republican daily of Springfield, Mass., today, reports on a new study by a unit of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The study finds that most counties in Massachusetts, southern Connecticut and southern Vermont lost more residents than they gained from 2003 to 2004, with losses larger in urban counties than in rural counties. Most Maine and New Hampshire counties gained population, with only two in those states losing. Freeman's article says:
"Within New England from 2003 to 2004, people mostly moved from urban areas to suburban and rural areas and from southern New England to northern New England, according to new federal figures. The study, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, also noted that more people moved out of New England than moved into the region during that period. Confirming several trends previously noted by the U.S. Census Bureau, the study, which was based on tax data from the Internal Revenue Service, found that New England gained residents from New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan. It lost residents to Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Nevada and Arizona. The figures were based on changes in locations from which people filed their tax returns in 2003 and 2004."
The article continues by quoting Carrie L. Conaway, deputy director for the bank's Public Policy Center, which did the study. She is quoted as saying New England lost 57,000 residents due to migration during the one-year period between tax filings, only about 0.01 percent of its total
population, she said, adding she was surprised the net out-migration was as small as it was. "There is so much in the popular press that makes it sound like there is a huge net outflow from New England," Conaway says in Freeman's article.
Original article author: Stan Freeman: sfreeman@repub.com
ORIGINAL URL:
http://www.masslive.com/news/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1161503769144240.xml&coll=1
LINK TO PDF DOWNLOAD OF FULL REPORT: http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neppc/dp/2006/neppcdp0601.pdf
REPORT AUTHOR: New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neppc/index.htm