Jobs, country living and lakefront property are some of top reasons why people are moving into northeast Indiana.
But a nearly equal amount of people are leaving the area, likely chasing jobs, seeking a more urban landscape or fleeing south toward warmer weather.
Noble and Steuben counties both have experienced a slight increase in population due to migration, people who move from one county to a different county. LaGrange and DeKalb counties both have lost some population, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau in late August.
According to the figures released, Noble County gained a net 230 people and Steuben County added 80. LaGrange County lost 108 people, while DeKalb County had 263 more people move out than in. Those figures indicate total net migration to and from all U.S. counties.
The small effect of migration is one reason the overall population in Noble, DeKalb and Steuben counties has grown less than 1 percent between 2010 and 2014. The amount of people moving in is balanced by the amount of people moving out, and the number of children being born is being balanced by the number of people dying.
The nearly negligible change in migration in LaGrange County signals that almost all of the 3.5 percent population growth over the last five years has been natural growth — more births than deaths.
People who are moving into northeast Indiana typically are coming to the region because of new jobs, or they’re looking for a more small-town or relaxing residential environment, local real estate agents said.
“It’s a job. Most of the migration, in my mind is over jobs,” Greg Pyle, co-owner of Hosler Realty in Kendallville said.
Pyle recently had been showing a house in the Avilla area to a woman who was moving into town from Ohio. She had just taken a job at Group Dekko, so she needed to move into the area, he said. Pyle said that’s pretty typical of people who are coming across county lines — that they’re usually trying to get closer to work.
But Noble and DeKalb counties also benefit slightly from the opposite — people who work in Fort Wayne but want to move out of the city, ReMax Results managing partner Todd Stock said. Since the commute is short, they can live in a less-congested area and still keep their job in the city, Stock said. Both of those counties gained more people moving in from Allen County then went out.
Ken McCrory, executive director of DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership, was surprised that the data showed a slight net gain of people moving in from Allen County.
McCrory wasn’t sure why DeKalb County was losing a couple hundred people to cross-county moves, but said it could be a signal that people are finding more housing options in places such as Kendallville or Huntertown. Kendallville, for example, has one of the quickest-growing populations in the four-county region. It’s only about 3 percent, small compared to many urban or suburban areas, but still much higher than most other cities and towns nearby.
Migration toward cities is typically one of the main reasons people are leaving northeast Indiana. Young people, especially, tend to head toward urban areas because they offer more job opportunities and more quality-of-life amenities such as malls, restaurants and entertainment. LaGrange County, for example, has more people heading west toward Elkhart County than were coming in the other direction.
But quality-of-life aspects are a draw that smaller, more rural communities often have compared to urbanized zones. Low cost-of-living, small schools, charming downtowns and lakefront property are pluses for the region and are aspects that tend to attract older generations at or approaching retirement, Stock said.
Two homes Pyle sold on Sylvan Lake in recent years were to buyers who were from Chicago and Cleveland, both looking to get away from the city, he said.
“I also think Steuben and Noble and a little bit LaGrange, they get a lot of second-home retirement people moving up to the lakes. Or they’re from the area and are moving back home. They want to retire to the lake, and they’re moving back into the area,” Stock said.
Those quality-of-life attractions are something counties in the region want to play up in the near future, Noble County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Rick Sherck said.
For example, Angola has Trine University, which brings in new, young blood to the community, and the city has worked on projects such as downtown revitalization and adding more amenities to make the city a place people want to live, Sherck said.
Northeast Indiana is competing for a multi-million grant in the state’s new Regional Cities Initiative, which would allow the region to work on more quality-of-life improvements.