5 States Where the Natives Don't Leave

A new analysis finds that Texas is the "stickiest" state in the nation, though the designation has nothing to do with heat. In this case, it refers to the propensity of people born in a particular state to pack up and move out—or not. The analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finds that Texans are least likely to leave their home state. As you might expect, a complicated set of factors is at play, including job growth, weather, taxes, and home prices. A general trend: "Stickier" states tend to have plenty of large metro areas, as opposed to less sticky states. The best and the worst:

5 Stickiest States

1. Texas, where 82% of residents born there still lived there as of 2021, based on stats from the American Community Survey
2. North Carolina, 75.5%
3. Georgia, 72.42%
4. California, 73%
5. Utah, 72.9%

5 Least Stickiest States

46. Rhode Island, 55.2%
47. South Dakota, 54.2%
48. Alaska, 48.7%
49. North Dakota, 48.6%
50. Wyoming, 45.2%

Read the full report. (Or check out other lists.)