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Fastest growing states are in the South and the West. Check this out:

The Census data show:

• Florida, the third-fastest growing state, gained an average 1,090 people a day, bringing its population to 17.4 million. The population estimate covers the period before four major hurricanes battered the state in August and September.
• North Carolina and New Mexico replaced California and Hawaii among the 10 fastest-growing states.
• Nevada was the fastest growing state for the 18th consecutive year.
• Massachusetts lost population for the first time in more than a decade.
• California remained by far the most populous state at 35.9 million. Foreign immigration fueled much of its growth in the past year. But California continues to lose more residents to other states than it gains from the rest of the USA.
• Colorado, long one of the top destinations for people leaving California, lost more people to other states than it gained for the second year in a row. But immigration and births pushed its population up 1.2%, to 4.6 million.

From USAToday

[Clemenza]

Yes, that is because of 1. Immigration (all the states with the fastest growing Hispanic population are in the South) and 2. People can't afford to live in places like New Jersey or Connecticut unless they make a good amount of money.

Most of the folks who leave New Jersey go to Florida to retire or as tax exiles. Few go to your hayseed states and those that do think the locals are brain dead.

[Stoigo]

"Morgan also noted that if auto insurance and property tax rates had been considered, New Jersey's ranking would have sunk like a stone. But in Morgan Quitno's world, livability is measured by factors such as student-teacher ratios and per-capita spending on the arts, and New Jersey excelled in both."

These statements tell you everything you need to know.
New Jersey? No thanks.