Released: March 11, 2009 Magnet or Sticky?: A State-by-State
Typology A State-by-State Typology Alaska apparently isn’t much
good at hanging on to its native sons and daughters. Just 28% of
adults born there still live there, placing it last among the 50
states on this measure of population “stickiness.” Texas, by
contrast, knows how to hold ‘em. More than three-quarters of
adults born in Texas still live there, making the Lone Star
State the nation’s stickiest. Nevada, meanwhile, is the nation’s
most “magnetic” state: Fully 86% of its adult residents were
born in a different state. And New York is the least magnetic:
Just 19% of adult New Yorkers were born in another state. Using
Census data, the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic
Trends project has created a typology that groups all 50 states
and the District of Columbia by whether they are “magnets” or
“sticky” — or both, or neither. (Here is a list of magnet and
sticky numbers for all states and D.C.) First, let’s define
these terms. “Magnet” stat