Moving To Michigan From Indiana - So you’re thinking about making the move from Indiana to the great state of Michigan? Well, in this video I am going to break down why you should, and a few reasons why REAL people are doing it based on facts!
And before you think about clicking off this video because I’m going to be biased as a Michigander, I encourage you to stay because I’m breaking down the facts, and what REAL people are saying about the state they live in. According to data collected by Stacker.com, 11,026 people moved from Indiana to Michigan, which is among the top 5 states that residents of Indiana tend to go to..
As I mentioned, In this video I want to talk about Indiana, and the top reasons why you should move to Michigan as soon as possible.
And before you think about clicking off this video because I’m going to be biased as a Michigander, I encourage you to stay because I’m breaking down the facts, and what REAL people are saying about the state they live in. According to data collected by Stacker.com, 11,026 people moved from Indiana to Michigan, which is among the top 5 states that residents of Indiana tend to go to.
In 2021, Forbes came out with the list of the most fun states in America, Michigan landed #19 on the list, whereas Indiana found itself sitting at #38. Of course these numbers don’t mean anything until we understand the metrics that were used. Wallet hub provided this report by incorporating 26 different metrics, from the cost of a movie and national park accessibility, to casinos per capita and other cost effective options. This list was created after the pandemic forced people to stay within their homes, and people just wanted to have some fun again.
A lot of sources say, not everyone can make it as Hoosier (who-jure), which is what the residents of Indiana call themselves. They have extreme weather, a huge lack of attractions, competitive sports fans, little to no beaches, flatter terrain, and the towns all seem to be fairly similar. Touching on the points I just mentioned, Michigan shares the weather factor, they have a lot of attractions, there’s nothing wrong with competitive sports fans, we have endless beaches, an anything but flat terrain, and every city has a completely different culture and way of life even if it is just 10 minutes down the road. These factors might not seem huge to you, but when you compare two similar states, it makes all the difference.
I made a few videos recently comparing Ohio and Michigan, along with California and Michigan, which I will link in the description below, and when talking about Ohio, it shared a lot of the same qualities and features that Michigan does. Well, Indiana tends to be the same in that regard since each one of these states are neighbors of one another. For example, the weather we all face in the winter, having a relatively low cost of living, and great universities, but as I mentioned in the Ohio video, Michigan stands out a little more among the rest due to what the natural landscape offers. From the endless beaches to parks, great lakes and so much more.
After doing more research and finding what residents say about the state of Indiana, I decided to check out what city was ranked the best place to live in Indiana, according to Niche.com. Carmel, Indiana was ranked at the top of the list, so I figured I would see what bad things there are to find about such a prestigious city. Most residents simply stated there wasn’t a lot to do. This particular resident said there’s nothing attractive about this place, but at the same time said it’s a great and wealthy place to live in.
A little contradicting I might say, but this is categorized under things to do. This next resident talks about how the traffic is awful and goes on to say this city is full of high maintenance individuals, but the schools are great. This next reviewer talks about how there are very few outdoor spaces to do activities since a lot of the areas are becoming residential areas. That takes me back to my comparison of the natural landscape and parks and recreational offerings in the state of Michigan. It may not be that important to you, but it definitely is for a lot of other people.
Indiana leads the nation for the amount of toxic chemicals their factories release into the state's waterways. There’s one factory in particular that accounts for more than 83% of the toxic releases into Indian’s water, and that is AK’s steel Corp, which releases so many nitrate compounds into the Ohio River over the years that it climbed the charts for studies just like this. Almost 10 years ago, the factories in Indiana released over 21.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the rivers, lakes and streams, and that number is 5 million more pounds than the second highest state on the list, Virginia.
For those of you that don’t know the effects of toxic water levels this high, it’s known to cause blue baby syndrome, where not enough oxygen is in the blood. Granted, in general, Over 90% of the patients are living past the age of 20, and the mortality rate within 30 days is less than 1%, but with levels as high as the ones I mentioned, it can most definitely lead to death.
Of course, In Michigan we have faced a similar issue during the Flint Water Crisis, where the lead pipes were neglected for so long, people coming together all over the country to give people water bottles since the water wasn’t safe to consume or cook with. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy did announce that the city of Flint’s water system has entered its sixth consecutive year of meeting state and federal standards for lead in drinking water.
Another thing I want to touch on is motivation. As I have mentioned in previous videos, Michigan tends to be fairly relaxed and not hustling and bustling every second of every day, whereas the larger metro areas have adopted that mentality. I always say it depends on who you surround yourself with, and it’s hard to say a whole state is famous for being this way, but I have heard more times than not that Indiana is a sedentary state. There were reports that only 47.5% of the population exercised frequently, which is actually the fourth lowest in the country following: West Virginia, Alabama, and Arkansas. Don’t get it twisted, this isn’t to do any body shaming of any kind, it’s purely to put some insight on an aspect that is most definitely important for a lot of people. Let me break down an example real quick. Let’s just say there was a city like the dystopian world that the cartoon Movie Wall-E creates, where life has this abundance of leisure in outer space. People are on their hover cars, extremely obese, eating and drinking garbage food until they fall asleep. Chances are you probably won’t see any health food places in there, a gym, supplement store or anything of that nature.
That goes for cities within our nation too, because when a business is planning their next location, it’s based on the demand for the product or service they have. If a city is notorious for having drive thru traffic wrapped around the street 6 times, they probably are all about the fast food. On the other hand, if there’s a lot of heavily populated gyms, tropical smoothie cafes, supplement stores, etc. then you can get an idea of whether businesses will succeed and won’t in a city. Moral of the story, if you’re someone who's all about the fast food chains, this is something to look for. If you’re a health nut, this is also something for you to look for. For me, as a frequent gym goer, I wouldn’t want to drive 45+ minutes just to get to the only gym in town, so understanding the city's dynamic is crucial.
One of the biggest reasons and why 66% of people are leaving Indiana is due to job related reasons. While the remaining percentages are between leaving for family or retirement. With it being known that there’s not too much to do in the state of Indiana, that goes for the job market as well.
Another thing I wanted to touch more in depth on is the low cost of living in both states. Indiana actually beats out Michigan in the cost of living department, and I’ll show you this quick clip of the price differences on normal goods and services for both states. They aren’t drastically different by any means, most of the goods and services differ by a few cents or even a few dollars. So when deciding which state to turn to, this is hardly part of the conversation as they are so similar. Again, it comes down to what the state offers, and after looking into why people dislike Indiana, the biggest reason is the lack of things to do, so why not pay similar prices for your day to day life in a state that offers more?
Michigan is continuing to grow rapidly as years go on, but of course there’s pros and cons as there are with any city or state across the nation, but one thing's for sure, the Popular Science magazine has given it a seal of approval by noting that Michigan will be the best place to live in America by the year 2100. I’ll only be 102 years old, so I’m looking forward to that time.
For those of you that have made the move to Michigan from Indiana or are simply staying put in Indiana, What have your experiences been like? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
If you have any more questions about making the move to Michigan, don’t hesitate to reach out anytime!
MENTIONED LINKS 🔗
Moving To Michigan From California: https://youtu.be/V6Olrrg8_eE
Moving From Ohio To Michigan: https://youtu.be/dJfnfsZp_hA
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew McManamon is a Michigan REALTOR® with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty and provides real estate services to Buyers, Sellers and Investors throughout SE Michigan including Livingston County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Genesee County & beyond. Andrew has become one of the rising stars of Michigan real estate agents. Prior to his real estate career Andrew was responsible for managing a senior living facility in Brighton, Michigan as a dining supervisor and an activities assistant. Andrew’s passion to help people is unlike any other, and he continues to strive to be best resource he can be. Andrew graduated from Cleary University in Howell, Michigan with a double major and currently resides in White Lake, Michigan.
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