Domestic Migration, Visualized

The New York Times recently visualized domestic migration and population makeup for each state in the United States from 1900 until today using Census data.

2 minute read

August 15, 2014, 8:00 AM PDT

By Maayan Dembo @DJ_Mayjahn


For every state in the United States, population was divided by resident's state of birth. Foreign-born residents are also included to gain a better understanding of population makeup and migration within the United States. Here are some of the highlights of the 50 state feature:

While the least diverse state is Louisiana, with about 79 percent of today's residents born in-state, Colorado, the most diverse state, boasts only 42 percent of residents born in-state.

North Dakota's recent natural gas boom explained by the, "transplant population from 15 states increas[ing] by at least 1,000, while the North Dakota native population has actually shrunk."

Michigan illustrates how deindustrialization affects domestic migration. "Michigan used to have a significant population of people born in other Midwestern states and in places like Pennsylvania, Kentucky and North Carolina. With fewer high-paying factory jobs, fewer transplants have moved in from these states."

Considered one of the fastest-growing states on the East Coast, "As recently as 1980, 76 percent of [North Carolina] residents were natives, and the next-largest source of state residents was South Carolina. Today, there are twice as many North Carolina residents born in New York as were born in South Carolina."

California, once a dream land for Americans throughout the country, "today, the state is still pulling in foreign immigrants, but the percentage of American-born transplants has shrunk significantly as more people leave the state. There are now about 6.8 million California natives living elsewhere, up from 2.7 million in 1980."

Thursday, August 14, 2014 in The New York Times

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