Austin, Houston, Dallas tops in attracting young people

2007-2009

Vilas Bhuchar, Feb 07, 11.

Austin, Dallas, and Houston ranked numbers 1, 2, and 4 among 52 metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 1 million people in drawing the largest number of young adults (ages 25-34) to their cities from 2007-2009, according to the Brookings Institution.

Despite these cities’ gains, overall interstate migration among young adults decreased sharply during this time period, in large part because of the economic recession, adds the story:

The stall has affected college graduates and young adults—groups usually among the most mobile and coveted—which tend to be the lifeblood of the labor force and responsive to shifts in national job networks. Between 2008 and 2010, the annual interstate migration of this group fell to 2.1 percent, well below the levels of 3 percent and above earlier this decade and in the 1990s. This is indicative of young adults encountering a brutal job market, as many double up or remain at home with their parents or other families. The annual migration rate for adults aged 25 to 29 fell to 3.2 percent in 2009–2010, also an historic low point for this usually highly mobile group.

Furthermore, many parts of the country, including Rust Belt cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Columbus experienced a reduction in their migration losses, notes the story:

At the same time, many metro areas that were losing adults with college degrees in mid-decade, started holding onto more of them as the housing and labor markets froze. Prime examples are New York and Los Angeles, where annual migration losses abated sharply. Others such as Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago experienced smaller brain drains due to lack of opportunities elsewhere. There was a renewed retention of migrants for areas like Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco and Columbus, as more affordable housing dried up in other places.

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