Net Migration is Slowing Down

The Denver Business Journal had a story last week about migration in and out of the state based on U.S. Census Bureau data from 2015 to 2016, the newest data available. CO gained 223k new residents in 2016; but 193k residents left the state; leaving a net gain of 30,000. This is the smallest net gain we have seen this decade; but is still the 9th highest in the country.

From 2010 to 2015 we recorded net migration of over 40k people every year, so our net migration dropped by 25%. Why? The 193k people who left the state was the highest on record, up 10k people from 2015. While our incoming number dropped by 4,000 people to 223k newcomers. Still this was the 2nd largest number of newcomers this decade.

Where are the newcomers coming from? The top 5 states are CA, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Arizona. Where are people moving to from CO? The top 5 states chosen are CA, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Washington. It’s intriguing that 4 of the 5 states were identical.

I consider this good news as hopefully builders can begin catching up on the shortage of homes we have.