The folks at the Big Picture blog had a story about a cool new interactive map from Forbes showing migration trends within the United States and you know I had to play with it for a moment.
The map provides some interesting data. Red lines show county-to-county moves with a net loss of population for Knox County, while black lines show moves with a net gain for Knox County. Here’s what Knox County’s overall migration patterns looked like based on 2008 data:
Knoxville
I’ll take a look at what this might mean and how it compares to other Tennessee metro areas after the jump.
The data is based on information provided by the Internal Revenue Service for changes of address in 2008. The data only tracks county-to-county moves with at least ten changes of address, so not all moves are shown, but it gives a pretty good idea of what’s happening.
It looks like Florida, Southern California, the Great Lakes area are supplying new residents to Knox County.
During the same 2008 time period, Knox County residents were leaving the Sunsphere in their rear view mirror as they headed west to locations such as Northern California, the major Texas metro areas, and the Pacific Northwest.
I like how the map illustrates interesting regional migration patterns. Note how South Floridians were moving to Knox County as residents here headed for the Florida Panhandle. Likewise, Southern Californians were arriving in Knoxville, as Knoxvillians were relocating to Northern California. In the Northeast corridor, it looks like Knoxville is importing Yankees fans while sending new residents to Red Sox country.
There’s not a lot of accompanying demographic data to help explain the moves, but the map does tell the average per capita income of the total people moving to and from each county. In general, the average per capita income of people moving to Knox County is lower than the avarage per capita income of the people leaving. Likely, the map is showing us where young job seekers and students are arriving from and where older residents are leaving to settle into their retirement.
So, how does Knox County compare to the other metro markets in Tennessee? Take a look and see.
Chattanooga
Chattanooga’s pattern is geographically quite similar to Knoxville’s pattern, with a couple of notable exceptions. I was particularly interested to note that Chattanooga experienced a net gain of migration from the Texas metro areas, as Knoxville was experiencing a net loss to these same areas. I wonder if the black lines from Detroit and other Iron Belt areas will grow more pronounced in the coming years as the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga moves closer to its official opening?
Nashville
Nashville looks like a funnel with a lot of its growth coming from the Northeast and Midwest and then sending residents to points further west. But, overall, Nashville is continuing to grow.
Meanwhile, my former home of Memphis looks to be exporting far more residents than it is taking in.
Memphis
And, by the way, if you happen to notice that a lot of your friends have gone missing, you might want to check Seattle.
Seattle
