METRO AREA Census: Exit rate exceeds arrivals

People moved from this area for better job opportunities, an expert says.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Almost 15,000 more people left the four-county Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area between 1995 and 2000 than moved here during the same time frame, say statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The statistics show that 58,803 people left the metropolitan area -- which consists of Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Mercer counties -- and 44,158 people moved into the four counties in that time period.
The reason: job opportunities, said Gil Peterson, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments' director of economic development.
"Younger people, when they graduate from college, a lot of them are moving out of the area to Columbus, Atlanta, Chicago as well as to the West Coast, Florida, and the Carolinas," he said.
Each county
The Census Bureau also broke down the number of people who moved in and out of each of the counties.
The statistics show that 90,746 people from Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Mercer moved out of their home counties between 1995 and 2000, but the area lost only 58,803 during that same time frame. That's because about 32,000 of them moved from one county in the metropolitan area to another one in the area.
The same is true for those moving into the four counties.
In all, 75,645 people overall moved to the four counties between 1995 and 2000, but the metropolitan area gained only 44,158 new residents during that time frame. The rest moved from one of the four counties in the area to another county in the area.
Lawrence County, which is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, had 11,239 people move out, and 9,702 people move into the county between 1995 and 2000.
State figures
Between 1995 and 2000, Ohio had 705,590 people leave the state, and 588,650 relocate to it from other states for a net loss of 116,940 people. That places Ohio sixth on the list of states with the largest net population loss between 1995 and 2000.
The U.S. Census shows that more people moved to Ohio from Florida -- 47,389 -- than from any other state. Also, Florida was the No. 1 state that Ohioans relocated to, with 90,833 moving to the Sunshine State between 1995 and 2000.
The Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area probably falls right in line with the rest of Ohio with regard to Florida, Peterson said.
"Younger people leave here for Florida for a job and find out that the economy there isn't as good as they anticipated, so a number of them move back here," he said. "Also, with older people, they move to Florida to retire, and when a spouse dies, the other one sometimes moves back here."
Pennsylvania statistics
Between 1995 and 2000, Pennsylvania had 800,049 people leave the state, and 668,753 move to it from other states, for a net loss of 131,296 in that time frame. Pennsylvania ranks fifth of U.S. states in terms of net population loss during that time.
Pennsylvania added 112,214 people from New York between 1995 and 2000, the most it gained from any state during that time frame. As for residents leaving Pennsylvania, the top relocation spot was Florida. Between 1995 and 2000, 92,385 people moved from the Keystone State to Florida, the U.S. Census reports.
skolnick@vindy.com