Greater Poughkeepsie Area Drives the Capital Region’s Biggest Net Gain in Young Adults
The Capital Region’s leading source of new young adults is the New York City Commuting Zone (CZ), but the region loses almost as many as it gains from that area. That makes the Poughkeepsie CZ the Capital Region’s top young adult net gain driver, according to a Center for Economic Growth analysis of new pre-pandemic migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Harvard University.
A Census-Harvard study analyzed survey and tax data for people born between 1984 and 1992 and followed their migration from where they lived during childhood at 16 years old and young adulthood at 26 years old, covering a migration period between 2010 and 2018. The data shows that the average young adult who moved to the Albany CZ, which is comprised of the eight-county Capital Region plus Schoharie County, came from an area about 97 miles for their job, compared to the national average of 181 miles. Three quarters (75 percent) of the young adults living in the Albany CZ also grew up in it.
Highest Inflow Volumes
The Albany CZ attracted 4,860 young adults from the New York CZ – making it the 12th top destination for mobile NYC young adults. The New York CZ accounted for 4.4 percent of the young adults who moved to the Albany CZ. However, 4,830 Capital Region young adults moved to the New York CZ, resulting in a net gain of 30. The New York CZ includes nine counties: Putnam, Queens, New York, Kings, Richmond, Westchester, Suffolk, Nassau, and Bronx.
Other CZs sending high volumes of young adults to the Albany CZ included Syracuse (,1,768), Amsterdam (1,617) and Buffalo (1,127). Outside of New York State, other CZs sending the most young adults to the Albany CZ were Newark (902), Bridgeport (755) and Boston (582).
Net Gain
The Albany CZ attracted 3,351 young adults from the Poughkeepsie CZ but sent to it only 977, resulting in a net gain of 2,734. The Poughkeepsie CZ includes Orange, Sullivan, Dutchess and Ulster counties. The other leading CZs driving young adult net gains in the Albany CZ are the Syracuse (897), Oneonta (394) and Amsterdam (387) CZs. Outside of New York, the CZs contributing to the largest young adult net gains in the Albany CZ were the Newark (206) and Toms River (49) CZs in central New Jersey and the Erie CZ (52) in eastern Pennsylvania.
Losses
The New York CZs attracted the most young adults from the Albany CZ. Other top attractors of Albany CZ young adults were the following CZs: Boston (2,612); Buffalo (1265); Washington, DC (1,239); and Amsterdam (1,230). The CZs responsible for the Albany CZ’s biggest net losses of young adults were Boston (2,030); Washington, DC (986); and Denver (572).
CEG Initiatives
In April 2021, CEG launched a talent attraction campaign using the CapNY brand, along with a website – GoCapNY.com – and its associated social media channels. To help attract even more young professionals to the Capital Region, CEG launched a CapNY Connectors initiative. The Connectors are local residents who love living in the Capital Region and who have volunteered to share that love to help connect prospective new residents to our community. They work in diverse industries, pursue unique interests, and come from all walks of life. The CapNY Connectors are available to answer questions and discuss first-hand experience of what it’s like to work and live in CapNY.
Young professionals can find a connector who shares their interests and ambitions by checking out the profiles on the GoCapNY website. Website visitors who are unsure of whom they should connect with, can fill out the form to provide some additional details, and the CapNY networking team will make a connection for them.
Visit CapNY Connectors at https://gocapny.com/capny-connectors.
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