Commenting on U.S. resettlement patterns, a recent migration study cited more people having left the Midwest and Northeast in 2004-05, with the Southeast and West gaining populations.
The study tallies outbound and inbound moving patterns, and classifies each state into three categories: high inbound (more than 55 percent of movement coming into the state), high outbound (55 percent or more of moves going out of state) and balanced.
Although the majority of states were classified as balanced, several showed significant shifts in population.
Topping the tracking report's inbound list were Oregon, North Carolina, Idaho and Arizona, receiving ratings of 60 percent or better. Oregon was recognized as the biggest people-gaining state.
On the other end, North Dakota was at the top of the outbound list (67.8 percent rating), ahead of Michigan (63.9 percent) and New Jersey (60.4 percent) vacancies. Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin were considered balanced.
