Half of Illinois Residents said they would move if they could (Chicago: 2013, home)

[Eric1026]

Ouch. Gallup just posted this pole. 50% said they would leave.


Half in Illinois and Connecticut Want to Move Elsewhere

PRINCETON, NJ -- Every state has at least some residents who are looking for greener pastures, but nowhere is the desire to move more prevalent than in Illinois and Connecticut. In both of these states, about half of residents say that if given the chance to move to a different state, they would like to do so. Maryland is a close third, at 47%. By contrast, in Montana, Hawaii, and Maine, just 23% say they would like to relocate. Nearly as few -- 24% -- feel this way in Oregon, New Hampshire, and Texas.

These findings are from a 50-state Gallup poll, conducted June-December 2013, which includes at least 600 representative interviews with residents aged 18 and older in each state. Gallup measured residents' interest in moving out of state by asking, "Regardless of whether you will move, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move to another state, or would you rather remain in your current state?"

Thirty-three percent of residents want to move to another state, according to the average of the 50 state responses. Seventeen states come close to that 50-state average. Another 16 are above the average range, including three showing an especially high desire to move. In fact, in these three -- Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland -- roughly as many residents want to leave as want to stay.

At the other end of the spectrum, 17 states are home to a below-average percentage of residents wanting to leave. This includes the previously mentioned six states -- Montana, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, New Hampshire, and Texas -- where fewer than one in four want to move, the lowest level recorded. The detailed results for all 50 states are shown on page 2.

[marothisu]

This was posted in another sub forum but consider this - pretty much 1 in every 4 members of any given state, in the least, in our country want to move elsewhere. That's pretty drastic. I think by and large, cities like Chicago, NYC, and LA are pretty transient cities. People always come and go in them and have for a long time.

[MuffinGuy]

If I lived anywhere in Illinois outside of Chicago, I would too What would be more interesting is a poll among only those living within official city limits among the top 50 (or less) cities.

[Eric1026]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This was posted in another sub forum but consider this - pretty much 1 in every 4 members of any given state, in the least, in our country want to move elsewhere. That's pretty drastic. I think by and large, cities like Chicago, NYC, and LA are pretty transient cities. People always come and go in them and have for a long time.

I did not think about it that way. Why do you think a minimum of 25% of people want to move away from where they are at?

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by Eric1026

I did not think about it that way. Why do you think a minimum of 25% of people want to move away from where they are at?

America is a transient country and has been for a long time. Coupled with the idea of the "geographic cure" (i.e. moving will solve one's problems), and you have a population where, at best, 23% of residents want to move to another state if they could.

[knitgirl]

I'm not surprised after the winter we had.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Eric1026

I did not think about it that way. Why do you think a minimum of 25% of people want to move away from where they are at?

It's an approximation, but the lowest percentage state was 23%, which is close to 1 in 4 people, at the minimum. That's what the poll is measuring. Think about it - the state where people want to move away the least is still almost 1 in 4 people.

[ChicaGONER]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This was posted in another sub forum but consider this - pretty much 1 in every 4 members of any given state, in the least, in our country want to move elsewhere. That's pretty drastic. I think by and large, cities like Chicago, NYC, and LA are pretty transient cities. People always come and go in them and have for a long time.

Yes, but how significant is 25% vs 50% in this instance?

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by ChicaGONER

Yes, but how significant is 25% vs 50% in this instance?

According the poll it is the difference between 150 and 300 people, since a total of 600 people were asked.

[marothisu]

Yes, the difference is 150 versus 300 people.

Polls are always an interesting topic too - sometimes they're pretty accurate and sometimes they miss the mark. At least the people who make the polls try and cover as many people as they can in an important way. These types of polls are a bit more hit or miss than political type of polls in the end. Political polls are a bit easier I think - this one has a lot more different types of people that may have differing opinions I think. 50% is high, but again big cities are always transient places. I've known a large handful of people to leave Chicago while I"ve been here, but I've also known just as many if not more people who have moved to the city after them. And it's just one giant cycle that's no different than a city like NYC, for example, in that regard.