More than 8,000 people per year have moved from Alabama to Texas since 2010, making Texas one of the biggest destinations for people leaving Alabama during that time.

According to U.S. Census Bureau migration data, more Alabamians move to Texas than move to neighboring Mississippi.

Texas is the fastest growing state in the country in terms of total population. Many of the fastest growing counties are there. And it’s a popular destination for Alabamians.

More than 72,000 people, meaning more than the population of Auburn, moved from Alabama to Texas since 2010. However, all states swap lots of residents each year with neighbors, and Texas trails bordering states, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee, for new arrivals from Alabama.

But unlike with Georgia and Florida, Alabama sends more people to Texas than it gets back. Just over 61,000 Texans moved to Alabama in nine years, good for a net loss of 11,000 for Alabama.

Alabama saw a net gain in population from Georgia and Florida over that span, and a modest net loss to Tennessee of 3,800 people.

But while Texas stands out because the volume of traffic back and forth, it isn’t the biggest winner when it comes to gaining Alabamians. In terms of net migration, the No. 1 state is Louisiana, perhaps reversing a trend of Louisianans moving here after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Nearly 32,000 Alabamians moved to Louisiana since 2010, and only 19,000 moved the other direction.

Alabama also saw a significant loss of people to Colorado, which is one of the fastest growing states in the country. Alabama sent nearly 22,000 people there between 2010 and 2018. Colorado sent just 13,000 back.

See the top 10 states for attracting and keeping Alabamians:

More people move from Alabama to these states than vice versa. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald

In terms of raw numbers, Alabamians tend to stay in the South. More Alabamians move to neighboring states and Texas than to the other 45 states combined, including Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. California is the only non-Southern state in the top 10 destinations for Alabama movers. Alabama sent 38,000 people there between 2010 and 2018. Although more than 35,000 moved back.

A handful of Rust Belt states also saw a lot of exchange of residents with Alabama over that time, including Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Illinois was actually one of Alabama’s biggest feeder states in terms of net population.

But there were some regions Alabamians simply did not move to over the time frame, especially New England and parts of the upper Midwest. Both North and South Dakota each saw fewer than 1,000 people move to Alabama, or arrive from Alabama, since 2010.

Below are the total departures from Alabama. Unlike the top 10 chart above, these totals aren’t adjusted for how many people moved back to Alabama:

Alabamians who move away tend to stay close to home. | Graphic by Ramsey Archibald

Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald.