Although Connecticut’s population has declined over the past three years, populations of immigrants and 30-to-39-year-olds (also known as Generation X) have been on the rise, according to a new study.
Connecticut’s population has declined from 2014 through 2016, with declining births and increasing deaths playing a role, according to the report on migration trends researched by the state Office of Policy and Management in collaboration with the Connecticut Data Collaborative. Compared to the mid-2000s, the number of people leaving Connecticut for other states has increased by 55 percent, or about 9,200 individuals. Yet international migration has boosted the state’s population by about 30 percent, or 3,700 people, the study found.
More people do leave for Massachusetts and Florida, the study notes, while more people move here from New York or New Jersey.
Connecticut also tends to lose youth ages 18 to 21 and Millennials ageS 22 to 29.
Churn is also evident among high-income earners: while almost 40 percent of income tax filers grow into the $5-million-and-over earning group, almost 35 percent fall out of that group annually, the report states.
“This study does not make any assertions towards why people are migrating in and out of Connecticut,” the authors note. “We do know that nationally, according to the Census Population Survey, the top reasons for moving (inter and intra-state) are: housing (48 percent), family (30 percent), employment (20 percent), and other (2 percent).
