People relocate all the time, but there’s no place like home.
Some states have more born-and-bred residents than others, and Stacker organized them all in a ranking using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. The list also includes Washington D.C.
“In certain corners of the U.S., the only way you’ll ever be considered a local is if you were born there...Elsewhere, in major metropolitan centers like New York City, it can feel like no one is originally from there.”
“Results on this list might surprise some readers,” Stacker predicted, revealing the list of states with the biggest portions of the total population born in that state.
So, where does Illinois fall on that list?
Illinois comes in at No. 13 overall.
Nearly 68% of the population was born in the state, the report shows. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey tracked a total population of 12,671,821 Illinoisans in 2019.
Stacker writes of Illinois:
“Of Illinois' high school graduates enrolled in four-year colleges and universities, almost 50% leave the state to attend. In-state schools have worked for years on finding novel ways to keep these students in-state, but the numbers have continued to fall.”
These are the Top 10 states with the most born-and-bred residents:
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Mississippi
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- Iowa
- Alabama
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
See the rest of the rankings here.