Lonnie Alexander left Glastonbury — and Connecticut — for good on Feb. 15.
Fed up with Connecticut’s high cost of living, Alexander and his wife moved their three children to Nashville, Tenn., a year after relocating for jobs at Hartford Hospital.
“I don’t see how people without a really good paying job make it here,” Alexander said. “This state has problems, big problems.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 89,360 people moved out of Connecticut in 2010, with 77,333 moving into the state — a loss of more than 12,000 residents.
In 2011, the Northeast became the No. 1 region for people to leave, after the Midwest held the distinction for five years, according to United Van Lines. United, the nation’s largest household goods mover, analyzes data annually from its moves. In 2011, Connecticut moves were 55.8 percent outbound.
“A lot of this is corporate relocation people looking for a job,” said Melissa Sullivan, spokeswoman for United.
Robert Pearlman, chairman of Bloomfield-based Nationwide Moving & Storage, has seen a shift over the past decade to people moving out of Connecticut. To make money in the moving industry, Nationwide tries to keep a 1:1 ratio on outbound and inbound moves to Connecticut; so for ever person that moves out of the state to Florida, for example, Nationwide tries to move someone from Florida back to Connecticut. That way trucks never run empty.
From the 1960s to 1990s, the 1:1 ratio was easier to hit, Pearlman said. Over the past nine years, that shifted to 70 percent of all Nationwide moves heading out of Connecticut.
“I’ve heard retirees tell me they can’t afford to live here anymore,” Pearlman said.
Nationwide finds most of its customers are moving to the far-flung regions of the country, rather than relocating in New England. South Carolina was the top destination in 2011, followed by North Carolina. Next are western states such as Arizona, California and Nevada. Florida remains strong for the company while Texas is picking up steam.
Customers complain about high cost of living in the Northeast and inability to find jobs, said Paul Ryan, Nationwide district manager. “People’s job search has really expanded. They are more willing to relocate,” he said.
The trends at Nationwide mirror the migration for the all of Connecticut, although Nationwide is serving a higher class of customer paying thousands for household moves. According to the Census, people leaving the state like to stay nearby with New York (15,338 Connecticut emigrants in 2010) and Massachusetts (13,270) as the top two destinations. Florida (11,183) is third, followed by California (4,631), Rhode Island (4,090) and Pennsylvania (4,007).
Outside some of the most populous states and those in the area, the South is a top destination. South Carolina received 3,998 Connecticut residents in 2010 followed by North Carolina (3,752), Georgia (2,619) and Virginia (2,468).
The Alexander family relocated to Windsor from Tennessee a year ago for Connecticut jobs, and moved to Glastonbury for a better school district in January. When Alexander’s wife received an offer to return to her Nashville job, the temptation was too much.
Alexander, a native of Tennessee, researched the Connecticut cost of living before moving in 2010 and concluded his household income would have to be $15,000 more. Upon arriving in Connecticut, Alexander found he and his wife needed $45,000 more as cost of living is higher than expected.
The taxes on Alexander’s house in Glastonbury are $10,000. For a similar size house in Tennessee, the taxes are $500.
“This state taxes the daylights out of you,” Alexander said. “Why do you need so many taxes to run such a small state?”
The move to and from Tennessee over the course of a year was beneficial for the family. Both Alexander and his wife secured jobs at their previous Nashville employers at their higher Connecticut salaries.
The spike in migration out of Connecticut is beneficial for movers, too. After a down year in 2008 when houses couldn’t sell, Nationwide recovered in 2009, surged in 2010 and saw a 20 percent increase in interstate moves in 2011. Pearlman is expecting 2012 to be similar to 2011, maybe with a slight increase, he said.
Alexander contracted with Nationwide to move his household goods from Glastonbury to Nashville. He spent the better part of his last day in Connecticut packing up boxes, discarding old clothes and worrying how the family’s two cats would fair on the drive to Tennessee.
Erwin Bernard was the driver leading the Nationwide team backing up Alexander’s house. The move was much like Bernard’s previous five, where he is moving someone out of Connecticut with no return load for the way back.
Bernard is one year from retirement and already decided to relocate to Louisiana to be closer to his daughter and granddaughter.
“I told them, ‘When I retire, expect me to move down there,’” Bernard said. “The cost of living is just so much cheaper in the South.”
