Study shows more people are moving into Idaho

Americans are heading west, but more specifically to Idaho. In a new study done by United Van Lines, the gem state ranks number three in the country for the number people moving inbound for 2017.

“Cities grow that have employment opportunities,” said Brad Cramer, the community development services director for the City of Idaho Falls. “As we see more employment opportunities and more business growth, more people are going to come here for the jobs. That’s always a key factor.”

According to the study, about 32 percent of people moving to Idaho came for a job.

Idaho Department of Labor says the state’s agriculture sector has helped create a lot of food processing plants.

“For sure, manufacturing is attracting a lot of people mainly because manufacturing is getting more automated,” said Jan Roeser, a regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor. “You have to have a certain skill set we don’t always have a lot of in Idaho. We do see people relocating to fill those jobs.”

Manufacturing plants create many jobs to fill, like human resources, management teams and more.

“You have to have the food scientists, you have to have quality control, you have to have salespeople, sometimes you have the back office research development going on,” said Roeser.

Idaho Department of Labor predicts that by 2026, the state will add more than 105,000 jobs.

Employment opportunities are not the only thing making people head over to the state.

“We’re also hearing that there are more and more people moving here to retire,” said Cramer.

In the mover’s study, 25.33 percent of people moving inbound came because of retirement.

“Part of it is the fact that we have a lot of open space,” Roeser said. “We have affordable housing to a lot of the large urban areas but we also have a lot of recreation opportunities.”

The Department of Labor points out that they see many retirees moving to the state to be closer to family.

Cities like Idaho Falls try to keep these retirees active and involved in the community.

“We offer lessons like in swimming and ice skating lessons,” said PJ Holm, the recreation superintendent for the City of Idaho Falls. “As well as fitness classes, Pilates and yoga type of courses. Our golf courses are geared toward the older demographics.”

The moving company’s study says the mountain west was the most popular destination for retirees, with one in four movers saying they chose to move to this location for retirement.

Idaho comes up just behind Vermont and Oregon among top inbound states of 2017.

Illinois ranks as the number one state for residents moving out.