People move for all kinds of reasons, but often they are seeking job or educational opportunities, a lower cost of living or they want to be close to family or wish to upgrade or downsize their housing.
“I think Ohio has a lot to offer for those who currently live here and for those who might be looking for a good place to live,” said Robert Graham, senior research scholar and associate director of the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Oxford. “Although we’ve only seen this positive net-migration pattern for three years, there are reasons to expect more people to move to Ohio than those who move away.”
Credit: JAROD THRUSH
Credit: JAROD THRUSH
Census data
About 1.27 million Ohioans moved last year, which was a 6% decrease from 2022, according to one-year estimates from the American Community Survey.
About 10.9% of the state’s residents packed up and relocated in 2023, which compares to about 15% of residents in 2015.
The vast majority of Ohioans who changed residences moved to other places inside the state (nearly 1.09 million people).
About 184,280 Ohio residents moved to other states last year, the survey data say. However, that was offset by the 185,340 people from other parts of the country who moved into the Buckeye State.
Since 2005, Ohio has seen a net increase in state-to-state migration three times: In 2023, 2022 and 2019.
Census did not publish estimates for 2020, and the survey data have sizable margins of error that mean it’s possible the small gains were actually small losses.
Positive trends
Graham said he thinks the Census estimates that show net gains in state-to-state migration may reflect a real trend that continues in the future.
He said there are “push” and “pull” factors that motivate people to leave where they live and move to new places.
He said factors that push people away include rising costs of living and housing; distance from family; declining opportunities and increased dissatisfaction with their current location.
He said people are drawn to new places by job opportunities, environment or climate, family and friends and availability of services.
Graham said people are more likely to move if they have enough information about potential destinations to feel confident that it will be a better place and situation for them. He said uncertainly is likely reduces the chances that people will relocate.
Where people move
Last year, Florida was the top destination of people fleeing Ohio: About 18,540 Ohioans moved into the Sunshine State.
Texas was the second most popular state of relocation (13,460 Ohio residents moved there), followed by Kentucky (13,249) and Indiana (12,495), which are the Buckeye State’s neighbors to the south and west.
Ohio gained the most new residents from Florida (18,740), followed by Michigan (15,795) and Pennsylvania (12,809).
Alison Goebel, executive director of the Greater Ohio Policy Center, said she feels “cautiously optimistic” about the state-to-state migration data, even though the data set’s margin of error makes it very hard to definitively determine the statistical trends.
Goebel said she thinks more Ohioans are staying put because they don’t have good housing options and they are getting trapped in their homes.
The U.S. housing supply hit a record low in 2022 and has not recovered since then, says Bankrate. Industry experts say housing prices have risen significantly because of the tight supply.
Goebel also said that many Ohioans are locked into very desirable mortgage rates that they won’t be able to get if they change houses.
“People (would) rather drive farther two to three times a week than try to find a new house closer to their new job, for example,” she said.
The state of Ohio’s Department of Development has projected that Ohio will lose hundreds of thousands of people in the next 26 years because there will be more deaths than births.
Goebel said Ohio hopefully can offset this kind of population loss by attracting people from other states.
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