Here's an interesting twist on the "everyone is leaving" talking point that is bandied about so often.
GRAND RAPIDS -- Tucked away in the details of the latest census bureau report is a statistic that might surprise most people. Michigan natives hate to leave home.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, out of 9.86 million people who live in Michigan, 7.45 million were born in the state. That puts Michigan third in native retention behind New York and Louisiana. Two to three years ago, Michigan was ranked fourth.
The Census Bureau began publishing the American Community surveys a few years ago to provide glimpses of communities before the big census count every ten years. The reports are based on public records rather than door to door questionnaires.
Ten years ago, it would be no surprise if Michigan ranked high in retaining its native born residents. High paying manufacturing jobs were a big incentive, especially in the auto industry.
Today, there appears to be another force, because the state has seen little job growth.
The city of East Grand Rapids may provide a clue. It has one of the highest percentages of high school students who go onto college, perhaps one of the highest percentages of students who go to study out of state. Yet, a number of those people come home.
There is another side of having a high retention rate. Michigan may be doing a poor job attracted residents from other states. That could explain why so many people are born in Michigan, says Michigan State Demographer Ken Darga.
In any case, it refutes what has been a recently held belief, that Michigan is experiencing an exodus of people.
And this from Darga, in another story-
Ken Darga, Michigan's state demographer, said that contrary to popular belief, the young, college-education population isn't leaving the state in larger numbers than other states. Michigan has the lowest out-migration of any state for those 25-34, he said.
And people born here tend to stay. Only Texas has a higher percentage of people born in the state who stay in the state, Darga said.
Here's a link to the latest stats. Tear it up.
Could all of this mean that Dick isn't telling us the whole truth?