FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — More people moved to Indiana than left the state from 2005 to 2009, but little of that influx came from neighboring states despite efforts to attract people and businesses from across the border, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Indiana's share of people moving from Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan remained level, while the share relocating from Illinois declined, The Journal Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/nhtOV5). The difference between moves into Indiana and moves out was about 2,000 people during the period.
The data don't reflect foreign migration.
The population changes came during a period of declining mobility nationally. A Pew Research Center study citing U.S. Census figures found that 11.9 percent of Americans moved between 2007 and 2008, the lowest level since the late 1940s.
"For all of the negative economic data that we've seen over the last decade, we don't see the population decline that you might think would come with that," said John Stafford, director of the Community Research Institute at IPFW.
The IRS figures don't include business movement among states and include only those who filed income tax returns.
But businesses have been a key target for Indiana, which launched a billboard campaign early in the recession that urged, "Come On IN for Lower Taxes, Business and Housing Costs." The campaign played on concerns about higher taxes in Michigan and Illinois during the recession.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. this year began a new ad campaign featuring the slogan "Illinnoyed by Higher Taxes?" after Illinois increased its income tax rate by 66 percent. A website entices Illinois businesses by touting the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation's 2011 Business Tax Climate Index that ranked Indiana "first in the Midwest" for overall tax burden.
The index ranked Illinois 13th, Ohio 18th, Michigan 21st and Indiana 25th in overall tax burden for 2009.
IEDC spokeswoman Katelyn Hancock said the three-month campaign featured 15 billboards in the Chicago area and ads on Crain's chicagobusiness.com. Sixteen Illinois companies plan to move all or a portion of their operations to Indiana as a result, she said.
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