New Census Data Show Transforming Regions, Migration Patterns

In 2017, many Millennials priced out of urban centers moved to the suburbs to settle down, and nearly 750,000 Americans moved into retirement hotspots.

The suburban population of larger metros rose 1 percent in 2017, and according to the new Census data, “domestic migration into such counties has tripled over the past five years, reaching 265,000 last year,” Realtor.com reports. The population of federally designated retirement counties rose 2 percent over the year ending July 1, 2017.

Rust-belt areas continued to shrink, with the counties containing Chicago, Baltimore and Cleveland, respectively, losing the most residents in 2017. But there were signs of promise for manufacturing areas. A group of 516 counties designated as manufacturing-dependent by the Agriculture Department have steadily gained population since the beginning of the decade, though they grew at a rate of just 0.4 percent last year.

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