There’s a general perception that once Michigan college students graduate, many head to other states, seeking better job opportunities. A recent survey disputes that, and perhaps might be the early indicator of improvement on the ‘brain drain’ front.
The new study finds that Michigan not only attracted many new college-educated residents but retained them as well. HireAHelper’s latest report looks at states that college-educated Americans are moving to and from, and Michigan experienced 75% net gain, ranking it the fifth most popular state among college-educated residents– just behind Wisconsin, Nevada, South Carolina and Washington state.
That means that more college-educated residents moved into than out of Michigan, at a ratio significantly better than the rest of the country. The major thrust of the report is significantly more positive for Michigan than most research on population trends and movement in recent years.
The report seeks to measure ‘brain drain’- the phenomenon of college-educated individuals leaving certain areas in the country, leaving those places at economic risk and widening gaps in the talent market. There’s also the flipside to this idea with ‘brain gain’– places like Michigan that are benefiting from this increase in talent coming in—at least according to this survey.
Overall Takeaways:
Americans with a college degree were 73% more likely to cite “a new job” as their reason for moving last year.
Two of the top three destination states for Americans with college degrees — Washington (+169%) and Nevada (+111%) — don’t have state income taxes.
Four of the top six metropolitan areas that college-educated Americans were most likely to leave are in California
Methodology:
“College-educated American” was defined as, “someone who has completed at least an undergraduate/Bachelor’s degree, including a master’s degree, doctorate, or similarly advanced degree.”
Net gain and loss for states and metropolitan areas were calculated as follows:
number of people with a college degree moving into the state or city, to the number of people with a college degree moving out of the state or city, expressed as a percentage (%).
For a full look at the research: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2024-study-brain-drain-the-states-with-the-largest-net-gains-and-losses-of-college-educated-americans/
