Welcome to the Neighborhood.

Have you looked at the migration trends for your state? (and no, I'm talking people, not birds or butterflies).  Governing did, using the new numbers from the American Community Survey done by the Census Bureau.  Mike Maciag posted Analysis: Who's Moving to Your State? in the September 25th blog.  The data examined focused on two groups: those moving from other countries and those moving from one state to another. Discussing the migration by age group, the post notes that the sunbelt states (referred to the in the article as "retirement hot spots") continued to be attractive to those older individuals, with "Florida add[ing] 104,000 residents age 65 and older, accounting for about 15 percent of the state’s estimated new residents moving in. That’s the highest share of any state, followed by Arizona, which welcomed nearly 40,000 such residents, or about 14.5 percent of all movers."

 You can select a specific state to obtain data on eduation, age, income, nationality and general demographics.   And don't forget to call the Welcome Wagon.

Of course, it's good for the economy to have more folks moving into the state--new residents help the housing market, can improve a community's tax base, bring in more business, etc. But what happens when those folks need services---say for example, half of those new residents to Florida in 15 years are frail and in need of Medicaid, home health care, Meals on Wheels, etc.  It's important that we consider how migration patterns affect agencies' case loads and demands for services while welcoming folks to the neighborhood.