South and West bringing in the most newcomers

Immigration from other countries is becoming less common, and population changes in the U.S. come mainly from state-to-state migration. To see an interactive map (static version below) showing moves to and from each county, click here. "Between 2010 and 2013, Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Colorado were the strongest people magnets, drawing nearly a million movers, according to a Stateline analysis of recently released Census Bureau population estimates," Tim Henderson reports for Stateline. 

On the other hand, New York, Illinois, California, New Jersey and Michigan have collectively lost almost a million people to interstate moves. Nearly 1.2 million people have moved to the South or West from the Northeast and Midwest between 2010 and 2013, according to the Stateline analysis. "North Carolina and Texas are very similar in that they're both what we call 'sticky states'—the percentage of adults born here who are still living here is very high, plus we are both really large migrant destinations," said Rebecca Tippett, director of Carolina Demography, a University of North Carolina population-research unit.

In the last 10 years, the number of citizens moving to Texas each year has grown from 100,000 to 400,000, and Austin is the nation's "capital for population growth," according to the Census Bureau. The most common reason people move is for employment, and "Movement out of the Northeast and into the newer areas of the county is nothing new as people seek greener pastures and lower costs," Henderson writes. Other states that gained lots of movers include Colorado, Montana and North Dakota, which have seen booms in oil and gas drilling. (Read more)