More Former Residents Are Returning to Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Youngstown metro area falls below average when it comes to retaining native residents.

However, Youngstown is above average in attracting former residents back to the region, a trend known as “boomerang migration.”

That’s according to three reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland analyzing U.S. migration trends. The reports state that Youngstown and most metro areas in the region served by the Cleveland Fed are below average in retaining domestic migrants.

“Domestic migration, although undergoing a steady decline, has become the main source of population expansion for growing regions,” write Stephan Whitaker and Brett Huetter, authors of the reports.

Youngstown’s domestic migration retention rate is 40.9%, compared with the national average of 45.8%, according to the reports.

For native residents — those born in the area — the national retention rate is 78%. In Youngstown, it’s lower at 75.1%. By comparison, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Cleveland all have native retention rates between 80% and 83%, exceeding the national average.

But those who leave Youngstown are more likely to return. The city’s boomerang rate is 28.7%, slightly higher than the national rate of 28%.

The reports suggest that job growth and a low cost of living can attract former residents back. In areas where prices exceed the national average by more than 5%, fewer than 30% of those who moved away return. Most regions have boomerang rates between one-quarter and one-third of those who left.

For many, the reports conclude, the main draw is the opportunity to live near family and friends.

Across the Cleveland Fed’s region — which includes Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and the northern panhandle of West Virginia — only Columbus, Ohio, and Lexington, Ky., exceed the national average in retaining domestic migrants.

The reports also note that metro size plays a role in retention. Metro areas with populations over 1 million have an average migrant retention rate of 48.5%, while those with populations under 1 million average 42.3%.