After being an outbound state for many years — meaning significantly more residents were leaving than coming — Indiana is seeing its migration pattern pull close to even.
The Evansville region, meanwhile, has a goal to boost its own stagnant population.
Whether because of cost of living, professional opportunity, family considerations, or something else, imports in the Hoosier state caught up with exports in 2024, showing nearly a 50-50 split. That’s according to data from Evansville-based Atlas Van Lines, Inc., which tracks interstate and cross-border household goods moves state by state.
The trend for 2024 was stark. Among movers to and from Indiana, Atlas figures show that 49 percent were arriving in the state and 51 were leaving. Atlas considers that a “balanced” pattern. Between 2015 and 2023, departures from Indiana were between 57 and 60 percent annually.
“Let’s hope it’s a trend,” Atlas Chairman and CEO Jack Griffin says. “If we go back to negative outbound next year, we’ll know it was a blip.”
Among Evansville’s neighboring states, the data are rosier for Kentucky than Illinois. The Bluegrass State’s migration has recently weighed toward arrivals — last year, 56 percent of movers were coming into Kentucky while 44 percent were leaving.
Illinois was nearly the opposite, with 57 percent moving out and 43 percent moving in, which is actually better than the state has done lately. Atlas data for 2023 showed that 63 percent of movers were outbound from Illinois.
Griffin says many Midwest states have shown outbound patterns for several years — with one reason being the baby boom generation’s retirement and relocation to warmer climates.
The Atlas migration data is broken down by state and not regions within states. The Evansville area’s population has been flat for several years, and the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership wants to change that.
Census data show the City of Evansville’s population estimate for 2023 was 115,332. That’s down 1.7 percent from the 2020 official census count, which was 117,292.
In total, Vanderburgh, Gibson, Posey, and Warrick counties in 2024 saw year-over-year population growth of 0.1 percent, while peer regions grew nearly 1 percent, according to E-REP. Most of the region’s increase is happening in Warrick County, which has about 65,867 residents.
E-REP’s Talent EVV initiative has set a goal to add 10,000 people to the four-county region by 2030, with half of those relocated residents being early in their careers.
E-REP cites some modest early successes toward that end. The region participates in MakeMyMove, a nationwide program to financially incentivize relocation for remote workers.
In 2024, MakeMyMove lured 25 households with an average annual income of $127,823 to the Evansville area. The program’s goal for 2025 is 50 households.
Another population-boosting effort is called Belong Here, which also offers incentives and targets workers to fill local jobs in traditional fields such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education. E-REP launched this in 2024 and says that since April, it has brought in 15 households (33 individuals) with an average $97,000 annual income.
E-REP is financing MakeMyMove and Belong Here with funding from the state’s READI program, the American Rescue Plan Act, and other sources.
Population growth is important to bolster the local workforce and bring fresh perspectives and talents to the community, says Tyler Stock, executive director of Talent EVV.
Together with increased population, Stock says the Talent EVV initiative also has goals to boost the region’s average wages and education levels, improved health outcomes, and cutting poverty, through a variety of investments, strategies, and partnerships.
Stock says Talent EVV is about “casting a vision for where we want to be five years from now.”
