NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Americans looking for work are looking in the mid-state.
Tennessee is gaining more workers than most other states because of relatively low living costs, no income tax, and attractive business environments, according to the National Association of Realtors.
According to their report Job Relocation Trends and the Impact on Local Real Estate Markets, Tennessee has the third-largest net job migration of workers in the country. The state with the largest was Virginia. Texas came in second. Tennessee also has a high share of inbound job moves (54.4%) highlighting how attractive the state is to professionals.
"When you look at the diversity of employment opportunities, you have the medical industry. You have tech that's really starting to grow. You have manufacturing and education," said Kevin Wilson, President of Greater Nashville Realtors.
As professionals relocate and more companies, like Amazon, demand their employees to return to the office full-time, the commercial real estate market is also affected.
"When you start looking at businesses looking to relocate, they're going to be looking at office space. They're going to be looking at that housing. Tennessee is going to continue to grow. Middle Tennessee is going to continue to grow," Wilson said.
The research done by the National Association of Realtors found the majority of people moving to Tennessee for work come from Georgia and Florida followed by Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, and California.
"The most job switchers are coming from Georgia, and ten percent are coming from Florida. When you look at Florida and climate change and how weather patterns are really affecting that area, and insurers are pulling out of that market... I think we'll continue to see Floridians continue to look at Tennessee, Texas, and other states that have no income that tax," Wilson said.
With more workers comes more demand for retail and service-oriented real estate, too. New residents want local amenities like restaurants, stores, and doctor's offices.
All of this made us wonder, what states have jobs that are causing Tennesseans to pull up roots and hit the road? The top five destinations are all in the south: Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and Alabama.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
