to other regions ? The license plates that I talked about in the beginning of this article might be a clue . The news is good ! Compared to other metro areas across Indiana , Southern Indiana stands out as a high performer in attracting workers from other areas . From 2018 to 2019 , the five Indiana counties in the Louisville Metro area ranked 2nd out of all Indiana metropolitan regions , with net domestic migration of 1,651 . To show the significance of this number , we can compare with the Ft . Wayne Metro area . The population exceeds Southern Indiana by about 150,000 , but it only had a net migration of 1,409 .
More impressive is if we observe the past 5 years and tally up the total net domestic migration , we see that the 5 counties in Southern Indiana are a strong second to Indianapolis . Metro areas that have a larger population , like South Bend and Ft . Wayne , did not come close to the results for Southern Indiana .
There are several reasons for this positive result . One is our proximity to Louisville , and the job opportunities that come with a large metropolitan area . However , residents moving to the area for job opportunities in Louisville
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
-5,000
-10,000
can also live in Kentucky . These residents and others are opting for Southern Indiana because of the location , quality of life , overall cost of living , and revitalized downtowns . Long term , this will be one of the major determinants of the region ’ s ability to sustain economic growth .
5 Year Net Domestic Migration Total
Source : STATS Indiana INDepth Profile
— Uric Dufrene is the Sanders Chair in Business at Indiana University Southeast . He ’ s contributed economic analysis to several area publications including the News and Tribune and Southern Indiana Business Source . He can be reached at udufrene @ ius . edu .
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