Where are all these new people in York County coming from? Let’s start in California.
As many new people keep coming to Fort Mill, Lake Wylie, Indian Land, Tega Cay, Rock Hill and other nearby hot spots, they have to be coming from somewhere.
Turns out, there’s a way to find out where.
New U.S. Census Bureau data came out Nov. 20 on geographic mobility. Figures show by age, race, income level and more how many people moved residences within the past year. The data shows reasons movers give for changing addresses. The data also totals up figures for the nation and large regions. Another bureau feature though, while not as current as the new 2019 estimates released this month, goes deeper.
A mobility mapper shows county-level migration trends from five-year surveys dating back to 2010. The most recent is the 2013-2017 survey. It shows how many people per year flowed into and out of each county in the country, and from which other county those residents came, or where they went.
While there’s certainly a local flair to the influx of new area residents — Fort Mill, Indian Land and other areas show growth almost unmatched in the region — there’s also a steady flow from near the shores of Lake Tahoe to the land of Buckeyes, from baseball country in middle Georgia to river country in southwest Pennsylvania.
York County
Most people moving into York County aren’t coming far. Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, accounts for more than three times as many incoming residents as the next closest county. The next seven counties on the list all are in the Carolinas.
Nationwide there are 37 counties that sent 100 or more people per year into York County during the survey period.
Outside the Carolinas, the top counties sending new residents this way were Placer (Calif.), Franklin (Ohio), Houston (Ga.), Calaveras (Calif.), Allegheny (Pa.), Cobb (Ga.), Leon (Fla.), Jasper (Mo.), Fairfax (Va.) and Cherokee (Ga.).
States sending the most people per year were California (553), Georgia (523), Florida (473), Ohio (388), New York (370) and Pennsylvania (320).
Of note, three counties in South Carolina — Edgefield, Jasper and McCormick — didn’t register any movers per year into York County.
As for net migration, York County gained more than 5,200 residents per year. That figure is more than half the net gain of Mecklenburg County (8,400) in that same span. Mecklenburg County is four times larger than York County in total population.
Lancaster County
Lancaster County still saw most of its moves from nearby, with Mecklenburg, York and Chester the top three contributors. Lancaster County also had Dyer County, Tenn. (No. 4) along with Duval (No. 7) and Hillsborough (No. 10) counties in Florida in its top 10.
There were 81 counties nationwide sending people to Lancaster County. Six South Carolina counties didn’t send anyone, from as close as Cherokee County. Eight North Carolina counties didn’t register a per year move. Lancaster County, Pa. didn’t send anyone, nor did Lancaster County, Neb.
Top states sending residents to Lancaster County were Florida (362 per year), Tennessee (307), New York (235), Connecticut (172) and Georgia (109).
Lancaster County netted more than 380 new residents per year, from moves, in that span.
Chester County
Only 27 counties nationwide registered per year residents moving to Chester County. Unlike its neighbors, Mecklenburg isn’t responsible for the most. York County is.
Top locales outside the Carolinas sending Chester County residents were Duval County, Florida (100), Washington DC (26), Los Angeles County, Calif. (22), Dauphin County, Pa. (14), Orange County, Florida (13) and Kitsap County, Wash. (13).
States — and a district — with the most per year moves to Chester County were Florida (113), California (34), Washington DC (26), Pennsylvania (14) and Washington (13).
Overall Chester County lost about 350 residents per year from moves, most of them to York and Lancaster counties.
National picture
In 2018 an estimated 8% of the more than 323 million people a year or older living in the U.S. moved within their same county. More than 3% moved from a different county, but the same state. More than 2% moved from a different state and less than 1% moved from abroad.
The median age for movers was 28. People age 18-34, or 1-4 were most likely to move regardless how far the move was. People never married, divorced or separated were about twice as likely to move within the same county as married people. Movers from different states were only a little less likely (.3-1.4%) to be married than never married, divorced or separated.
Education levels didn’t show much difference among types of movers. The wealthier a person, the less likely he or she was to move. Across the moving types, renters were more likely to move than homeowners.
Regional moves
Federal data also shows moves from region to region. About 2% of the population of the southern United States in 2018 moved from somewhere outside the South within the prior 12 months. More than 2.4 million total people came from abroad (32%), the West (24%), the Midwest (22%) and the Northeast (22%).
About 13% of the population moved from one part of the South to another.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 8:00 AM.
