Connecticut saw a net increase of roughly 81,000 people moving into the state in 2022, according to newly released state migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau, again reversing a long-time trend of losing residents to other states before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The largest net influx of residents came from New York, with 35,000 more New Yorkers flowing into Connecticut than Connecticut residents moving to the Empire State. Connecticut also saw a net increase of more than 11,000 residents from Massachusetts and was bolstered with more than 25,000 people moving in from foreign countries, according to the data.

Overall, 171,010 people moved into Connecticut from other states and foreign countries in 2022, while 89,455 residents departed for other states for an overall net increase of 81,555. The data, which can be messy, does include numbers of people who may have moved out of the country. 

Connecticut’s population topped out in 2015 before it began seeing a steady loss of people and money to other states over the following years, eventually bottoming out in 2019. There was no official state-to-state migration data for 2020 because of the pandemic, but unofficially Connecticut saw an influx of New Yorkers fleeing the city and buying up property, largely in Fairfield County.

The year 2020 through 2021, saw an increase for Connecticut in state-to-state flow, gaining roughly 66,000 people, but 2022’s increase marks the biggest net gain of new residents since 2015.

Connecticut has traditionally seen the largest flow of people in and out from neighbors New York and Massachusetts and has seen the largest loss of population to Florida, particularly of retirees. 

The loss to Florida in 2022 was no different, with the state losing a net of 6,144 people, with South Carolina and Texas also taking 3,736 and 2,053, respectively, but the rush from Connecticut’s border states was more than enough to make up for the losses to southern states.

The real estate buying spree during the pandemic drove up housing costs significantly as New Yorkers sought refuge from the city in Connecticut’s Fairfield County suburbs, and the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing. 

However, high demand for housing and low inventory have caused concerns among nonprofit organizations and lawmakers that there is not enough housing stock to keep up with demand, pricing people out of apartments and single-family homes. According to an analysis in Forbes, Connecticut’s housing inventory is low, and median prices are rising. Forbes cited Connecticut’s proximity to New York as a mitigating factor in housing costs.

However, the increased cost of housing, and interest rates that have now reached nearly 8 percent as the Federal Reserve seeks to tamp down inflation, has put homeownership for many out of reach. According to a recent study by Redfin, a family needs to take in nearly $115,000 per year to afford a median-priced home, a whopping 50 percent increase since the onset of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, apartment rental prices appear to be coming down more in line with the national average, with the exception of the Stamford area, according to CT Insider. Real Estate website Zillow also shows Connecticut rental costs for single-family homes decreasing mildly, with the median rental cost for a house coming in at $1,900.

Gov. Ned Lamont recently launched a new branding and marketing campaign for Connecticut in an effort to lure more businesses and people into the state.

“There is no better place to live and work in the U.S. than in Connecticut, and it’s about time everyone knows it too,” Lamont said in a press release announcing the new “Make It Here” campaign.

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