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Comment by gnicholas | Hacker News Reader

It looks like FL and TX each had ~130k net migrants per the last reported data. [1] Washington had ~40k in the same year. There's a reason journalists talk more about migration to FL/TX, and it's because there are way more people moving there.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

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Texas has 4x the population of Washington state, has more urban centers and a much larger state. As a % of population, looks like WA has more migration compared to Texas given your numbers

Sure, and that would make it a very important story for WA residents. There have been stories that emphasize the impact on local communities, like those in ID and MT, that were sparsely populated and are experiencing an influx. But most of the nationwide stories are about the net flows in absolute terms, not considering the percentage of the local population.

Also, as others have pointed out, most of the TX influx has been in/around Austin, so it's not like people are moving from SF to the middle of nowhere in TX, and having no impact on the local communities. Real estate prices in Austin are skyrocketing, as would be expected, in the few areas where people are moving to.

I used to live in Florida and you couldn't pay me to move back. The weather is hot, sticky and humid, the politics are right wing, the religion is old timey and in your face and the (mostly) latent racism is unpleasant when you encounter it.

I moved to a larger city in the midwest and it's great. Yes, winter is a drag but that's about the only negative that bothers me. Tech salaries go a long way, public schools are high quality and plentiful, politics are generally more balanced (than Florida or Texas), religion isn't a constant presence, crime is low and people are mostly friendly.

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