Massachusetts
Massachusetts is ranked the 2nd worst state for one-way U-Haul movers, but the ‘trend is reversing,’ state says
Wanna get away?
It appears that many Bay Staters want to as Massachusetts remains stuck in the basement for one-way U-Haul customer moves — with southern states leading the way in attracting residents.
Massachusetts was again ranked the second worst state for one-way U-Haul movers last year, coming in 49th on the U-Haul Growth Index. California ranked last, 50th, for the fifth year in a row.
While the Bay State is in the bottom two states, a state agency spokesperson told the Herald there are signs that the out-migration trend is “reversing” — and added that Gov. Maura Healey’s administration “aims to build on this momentum by continuing our work to make Massachusetts more affordable and grow our economy.”
U-Haul growth states are ranked by their net gain — or loss — of U-Haul customers over the past year. This stat is calculated by comparing each state’s one-way arrivals that originated in other states, with its one-way departures that were destined for other states.
The Bay State’s one-way arrival percentage last year was 48% and its departure percentage was 52%.
The U-Haul 49th state ranking for Massachusetts compares to the 2015 ranking of 36th place — when the arrival percentage was 49.9% and the departure percentage was 50.1%.
The top U-Haul growth states last year were southern states: South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.
“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” said John Taylor, U-Haul international president. “Migration to the Southeast and Southwest continues as families gauge their cost of living, job opportunities, quality of life and other factors that go into relocating to a new state.
“Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California,” Taylor added.
Looking at year-over-year changes, U-Haul arrivals into Massachusetts fell 3.5% while departures fell 4%, as overall moving traffic slowed last year.
“U-Haul’s 2024 report saw departures from Massachusetts decline at a faster rate than arrivals to Massachusetts,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development said in a statement.
Some of the leading growth cities in Massachusetts include: Boston, Quincy, Wilmington, Fall River, Plymouth, Fitchburg, Leominster, Hyannis, East Falmouth, Kingston, Franklin, Ayer, Upton and Westfield.
The bottom 10 states on the U-Haul list are: California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Maryland, and Connecticut.
“While U-Haul rankings may not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the U-Haul Growth Index is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents,” U-Haul wrote about the rankings.
This report comes in the wake of data from the Census Bureau that shows Massachusetts continues to lose a significant number of residents to out-migration.
While Census Bureau population estimates show an increase of 18,481 people in 2023, that was largely thanks to an influx of 50,000 new foreign immigrants.
In 2023, an estimated 184,534 individuals over a year old left Massachusetts for other states, while 145,021 relocated here from other states. On net, the Bay State lost 39,513 domestic residents.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts experienced an increase in domestic net outmigration consistent with an overall national trend of heightened migration during the pandemic,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development said in a statement. “Recent data, including from the Census Bureau and U-Haul, show that this trend is reversing.
“U-Haul’s 2024 report saw departures from Massachusetts decline at a faster rate than arrivals to Massachusetts,” the spokesperson added. “Data released in December by the Census Bureau show Massachusetts’ population grew by 1%, equal to the national growth rate, and that domestic outmigration in 2024 has declined by 50% from the 2022 level and is now on par with pre-pandemic levels.”
In 2023, the destination states that welcomed the greatest net number of Bay Staters were Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and South Carolina. Massachusetts lost net residents to every other New England state including Connecticut, a state known for its high cost structure and taxes.
Florida has consistently been one of the states to which Massachusetts loses the greatest number of individuals. From 2010 to 2023 (excluding 2020), Massachusetts experienced a net loss of 90,372 people to Florida — a figure exceeded only by New Hampshire, which saw a net gain of 98,879 relocating Bay Staters. Maine was also a popular destination, with a net total of 62,557 residents relocating there during that period.
“Migration numbers continue to be a major cause for concern for state policymakers, especially as more reliable data from the IRS, using tax returns, shows that more high-income and young filers (26–34) are leaving, bringing their wealth and future tax dollars with them,” Pioneer Institute wrote.
“Recent polls of both important demographics find no easing of this trend,” the research group added. “To make Massachusetts more competitive and attractive to current and potential residents and employers, Massachusetts needs to do more to lower its overall cost structure. Affordability solutions from growing the housing supply, easing tax burdens, and improving public transportation must be considered.”
Originally Published:
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Massachusetts
‘An impossible choice’: With little federal help to combat rising costs, Head Start looks to Massachusetts for more help – The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
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