New England states see a wave of in-migration during the pandemic
(Federal Reserve Bank Of Boston)
New England states have seen a rise in migration during the pandemic. A study shows that 36 counties gained households since the first U.S. outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.
Nicholas Chiumenti, a senior policy analyst and author of the study at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said the pandemic changed the way people moved into New England and specifically Connecticut. The state went from losing over 18,000 households in 2019 to gaining over 5,000 households last year.
“This came from a mix of people moving into the state, ostensibly temporarily, either because they can now work from home and they want to try out living in the state. Maybe they’re taking advantage of a second home,” Chiumenti said during an interview on Friday, Dec. 3. “But there’s also a combination of folks moving into the state permanently. Much of that in-migration that did come from temporary moves to the state.”
Many of the moves were temporary, instead of changing permanent residence, Chiumenti said. Only some of the new residents filled out permanent requests to move through the U.S. Postal Service.
“If they’re filing a temporary request to move, essentially what that means is they’re saying it can be as little as 15 days or up to one year,” Chiumenti said. “After that period of time, I expect to return to where I originally came from or my original residence and my mail is going to be filed back.”