Why So Many Americans Are Leaving The Great Lakes States

As a lifelong Great Lakes area resident, I've met exactly ZERO people who have moved here due to fears of climate change. And know personally a lot of people who have moved to Florida for retirement. People don't like it here because it's grey, cold, and dismal 6 months of the year, and still has an awful hot and humid summer.

We moved to Wisconsin right along Lake Michigan in the north east corner, on the Door County Peninsula In 2018 from Seattle Washington. The cost of living is so much cheaper in Wisconsin, plus in our rural area, we have virtually no crime, no traffic, no pollution, minimal stress, and plenty of lake water as we love to sail and kayak! Real estate prices in Washington state went crazy, and we cashed out and use the equity from that house sale to purchase a house on 3 acres in Wisconsin with cash, and enjoying early retirement, with a mortgage and debt-free lifestyle.

As a life-long Ohio resident, main reason for leaving is jobs. The county I live in has lost over 50,000 high paying manufacturing jobs in the last 20 years. Many of those jobs have relocated to southern states Often hear weather quoted why people leave, don't understand that. Last year no snow at all, many days in February and January in the 40-50. In my lifetime we have had one tornado, little severe weather like FL., not months of 100 plus temps like AZ, most of the year weather is great. Plus we have the great lakes. Super state. Some of the best medical care in the world, renowned Cleveland Clinic and great colleges like Ohio State and Case Western Reserve.

I grew up on the southern shores of Lake Superior. I noticed long ago, that kids growing up here, mostly want to leave. I'd say 75% of the generation of kids I went to school with, have all left. Homes that used to be year round residences or farms, have been chopped into smaller plots of land with vacation or hunting homes. Only occupied in the summer, or for hunting season. As a result housing for locals a mess, property values have been driven up, while rentals are scarce and overpriced for the region.

Grew up in Michigan. Now that I am in the West, I realize how valuable the water they have is. As droughts get worse, water will be increasingly valuable.

Lifelong Illinoisan (until recently). Everyone I know, including myself, left Illinois because of politics, mismanagement, and taxes.

I have lived in Michigan for 86 years and have been happy here. I believe in the future more people will move here mainly due the fresh water we have. I also believe the weather will warm up some and will become a more desirable place to live.

As part of my retirement plans and also owing to the very shaky housing market now, I just sold a property in Philly and I'm thinking to put the cash in stocks, I know everyone is saying its ripe enough, but Is this a good time to buy stocks? How long until a full recovery? How are other people in the same market raking in over $200k gains in months, I'm really just confused at this point.

Born and raised in Wisconsin. The truly worst thing about this area is the depressing cold, long winters. Other than that, it's a great area to live in. Affordable housing, plenty of jobs, and relatively low crime compared to other areas of the country.

A major piece of this story is globalization, followed by the current trend of deglobalization. For a variety of reasons, the US has realized in recent years it's a problem to depend on import supply chains for essential goods. So as readily as manufacturing left the country in the late 20th, it's now returning. And the geographical factors that made the Great Lakes states suitable for manufacturing 100 years ago are still relevant now.

Some things worth mentioning about the economic history of this area: - An early industry, at least in Ohio, was the export of timber to the east coast for shipbuilding. That also led to locally built ships, which created a whole maritime system of shipping for the area that's still active today. - The Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Wisconsin, had large deposits of copper and iron ore which led to major mining operations. Those ores would then be shipped to places like Detroit and Cleveland for smelting and then manufacturing. There's still some of that going on in this region: A couple of iron mines are still operating, and there's still a few steel plants. But this is also a victim-of-its-own-success factor, because the more easily mined ore isn't there anymore. - There's a good argument to be made that the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania, and western New York state are very much in this region, thanks to the economic connections from Great Lakes shipping. And Buffalo, NY was the first city in the US to have electricity available all the way back in 1896 thanks to George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla using Niagara Falls to generate electric current and figuring out how to transmit it long distances.

Western NY should have been included. I grew up in Rochester, NY which is considered a Great Lake city, as is Buffalo and Syracuse. All 3 cities have gone through the same history as the cities mentioned.

You forgot to mention Central and Upstate NY, we’re much more similar to the great lakes in every way as opposed to the east coast. Also Buffalo was a driving force that helped fuel immigration west along the great lakes.

This area is probably America’s best kept secret . Housing is cheap and there are jobs; you can live a very simple life and be happy. It’s great that it snows a lot because it keeps many people away.

Many seniors leave this area because hundreds of seniors die every winter while shoveling snow. Lake effect snow is usually wetter and heavier.

As a Michigander for most of my 50+ years. One huge factor is the aging baby boomers have their ailments exacerbated by the cold winters and ridiculously humid summers. My mom has lupus and was advised to leave the state over 10 years ago. My oldest niece who is in her mid upper 40s just moved to NM because of swelling of her extremities in the summer.

Actually, for 2022, Wisconsin was #19 in the nation for net positive migration. It has much more in common with Minnesota than the other four states covered here.

I grew up in Michigan and I don’t think it can be understated how cold, snowy, and generally gray and miserable winter is. I think a big part of the reason for the migration south is that, as the US shifts from an agricultural/manufacturing economy to a service/knowledge economy, jobs aren’t as dependent on natural resources so people don’t have to put up with awful weather to find good work anymore. (Of course, there is plenty of variability even in the Midwest. Winter in Cincinnati is going to feel a lot different from winter in Duluth)

A factor you failed to mention is politics. Both Michigan and Illinois have large, predominately liberal, urban centers that use their sheer numbers to dominate the rural areas.

I lived in Colorado for a decade, then the pacific northwest, came back home to Michigan and will never leave. I love my home state!