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Experts:

Chris Brown Chris Brown

October 22, 2024

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The latest state-to-state migration flow statistics continue to show the state is no longer one of the top destinations in the nation. The most recent data from the U.S. Census demonstrates that in  the early 2020s, Colorado is gaining more people through international migration than domestic migration. The state is gaining only a fraction of the domestic migration it used to capture. Also of note, Colorado is gaining more people from migration than from births.

  • Colorado is no longer a top ten state for migration. Colorado ranked 16th for domestic + natural population gain in 2023 out of 30 that had a net increase. It ranked in the top ten through the 2010s, including 2nd in the nation in 2015.
  • In terms of domestic migration, of the nearly 900,000 people who moved states, 53% of those movers went to Florida, Texas or North Carolina with Florida and Texas each getting more than 20% of movers. Only .8% of the movers chose to move to Colorado.
  • Colorado saw more of a net gain of Californians than any other state, nearly twice as many as from the next-highest state, Texas.
  • Colorado lost more people to Nevada than any other state, followed by Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Arkansas.
  • The state’s total population increased by 36,571 people, reaching 5.878 million.
  • This is 7,000 more people than in 2022 but less than half the average growth between 2011 and 2020.
  • The state gained more people by moving in than it did by births. The natural increase in the state’s population – births minus deaths – was 17,399, 48% of growth.
  • Colorado gained more people from international migration than domestic migration in 2022 and 2023.
  • Colorado gained 11,931 individuals from international migration. This is nearly three times higher than in 2021
  • Domestic migration increased slightly in 2023 to 7,236, just 16% of the average level of domestic migration between 2015 and 2019.

    • Domestic Migration

  • 899,481 Americans moved to a different state from the one they lived in the year before.
    • 53% of those movers went to Florida, Texas or North Carolina with Florida and Texas each getting more than 20% of movers.
    • 71% of movers left the states of California, New York and Illinois. More than 555,000 people left the states of California and New York.
  • Colorado’s has 1.6% of the U.S. population, but captured half of its interstate movers. 7,236 or .8% of all movers chose to locate to Colorado in 2023.
  • Colorado’s net migration + natural increase as share of population ranked 16th nationally improving from 19th last year. Colorado’s rank was in the top ten between 2010 and 2019 peaking at 2nd in 2015.

    •  

    Origins and Destinations of Domestic Migration in the U.S. and Colorado

    Across the U.S., Florida, Texas and the Carolinas were the most popular destinations. Of the people who moved to a different state in 2023, 53% moved to Florida, Texas, or North Carolina. The majority of people moved away from California, New York, and Illinois.

    The state of Colorado gained more people from California than any other state, 11,364 in total. This net gain was nearly twice the amount Colorado gained from Texas, which had the second-highest net gain. North Carolina, Virginia, and Arizona come next.

    Colorado lost more people to Nevada than any other state, 6,168 in total. Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Arkansas were the states with the next-highest net gains of Coloradans.

     

    Colorado Migration Data

     

    2020

    2021

    2022

    2023

    Total Population

    5,785,219

    5,811,596

    5,841,039

    5,877,610

    Natural Growth

    3,679

    15,656

    13,083

    17,399

    International

    244

    3,913

    10,413

    11,931

    Net Domestic Migration

    7,169

    5,404

    6,772

    7,236

    Total Net Migration

    7,413

    9,317

    17,185

    19,167

    Source:https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/state-to-state-migration-flows.html

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