Essex County Residents Are Leaving Massachusetts: Census

SALEM, MA — More than 5,800 people moved out of Essex County in 2017 according to Census data, mirroring an alarming statewide trend in which more people are moving out of Massachusetts than moving in.

The 5,827 people who moved out of Essex County was second only to Middlesex County, which lost 6,586 residents to other states, in 2017. Just three of the state's 12 counties — Suffolk, Hampshire and Berkshire — saw net gains of residents in 2017.

In 2018, according to recently-released Census data, the state saw 35,000 more people move out of Massachusetts than move to Massachusetts. The Census has yet to release county-by-county breakdowns for 2018.

While fewer residents would theoretically ease pressure on housing prices, the loss of residents has broader economic impacts. Fewer residents means fewer people to fill jobs in a state that already has a four percent unemployment rate, meaning economic growth could stagnate. Residents leaving the state also took $7.6 billion in adjusted gross annual income with them, according to Internal Revenue Service data for 2017-18.

"I think the biggest issue facing the state is this binding constraint of slow labor force growth," Robert Nakosteen, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told the Boston Business Journal, which first reported this story.

Where are all those Massachusetts residents heading? According to Census data, the following states saw the biggest inflows of former Massachusetts residents in 2018:

• Florida, 10,859
• New Hampshire, 9,165
• California 3,628
• South Carolina 3,316
• Colorado 2,775