|
The Harris Poll® #89, September 10, 2007
The Coasts Are Tops as California and New York City Are Most
Popular Places People Would Choose to Live, According to Latest Harris Poll
Easy access to the beach seems to be a key factor in deciding
which state people would choose to live. According to a new Harris Poll,
California remains number 1 this year, followed by Florida, which moved up from
number three and Hawaii, which has dropped from number two. Florida has been in
the top three ever since this question was first asked in 1997. When it comes to
which city people would live in, New York City comes in as number one for the
ninth time (out of the last 10 opportunities), San Diego, CA moves up one spot
to second and Seattle, WA also moves up one place to be the third most popular
city.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll®,
a nationwide survey of 2,694 adults conducted online between August 7 and 13,
2007 by Harris Interactive®.
The next most popular states in which people would like to
live are: North Carolina (#4, remaining the same as last year); Colorado (#5,
moving up from #7); Texas (#6, dropping from #5); New York (#7, moving up from
#8); Arizona (#8, moving up from #9); and Oregon (#9, moving up from #10). Three
states are tied for the tenth spot on this list: Washington (was #6 last year);
Tennessee (was #11 last year) and Virginia (was #12 last year).
Age plays a small role in the state people would choose to
live in. The top choice for Baby Boomers (those aged 43-61) would be Hawaii,
while California is tops for the other generations. For Echo Boomers (those aged
18-30), Texas moves up and is their number 2 choice. Generation Xers (those aged
31-42) and Matures (those 62 and older) break ranks with their 5th
spot; for Gen Xers it is Pennsylvania and for Matures, the number 5 position
goes to Oregon.
Favorite U.S. Cities to Live In
After NYC, San Diego and Seattle, the trend is to go West
with one exception: San Francisco, CA (which dropped from #2 to #4). Las Vegas,
NV remained the same as last year (#5); while Orlando, FL (#6, jumping up from
#14), Honolulu, HI (#7, dropping from #6), Phoenix, AZ (#8, moving up from tied
for #12), Denver, CO (tied for #9, dropping from tied for #7) and Los Angeles,
CA (tied for #9, up from #11) all changed positions. Returning to the list of
the 15 top cities this year are Charlotte, NC at #13 and Miami, FL at #15.
Dropping out of the top 15 are Atlanta, GA (tied for #7) and Nashville, TN
(#15).
TABLE 1
STATES WHERE MOST PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO LIVE - APART FROM THEIR
OWN STATE
"If you could live in any state in the
country, except the state you live in now, what state would you
choose to live in?"
Base: All U.S. Adults
|
|
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
|
California |
3 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Florida |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Hawaii |
7 |
=7 |
=9 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
North Carolina |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
8 |
=8 |
4 |
4 |
|
Colorado |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
|
Texas |
10 |
=7 |
5 |
=10 |
12 |
14 |
7 |
=8 |
5 |
6 |
|
New York |
* |
=15 |
* |
=10 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
|
Arizona |
2 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
8 |
|
Oregon |
9 |
9 |
15 |
14 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
|
Washington |
8 |
12 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
6 |
=10 |
|
Tennessee |
5 |
6 |
13 |
15 |
10 |
7 |
* |
10 |
11 |
=10 |
|
Virginia |
14 |
11 |
=9 |
=8 |
=14 |
=12 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
=10 |
|
Georgia |
11 |
14 |
12 |
=8 |
13 |
15 |
14 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
|
Pennsylvania |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
14 |
14 |
|
Alaska |
15 |
15 |
=9 |
13 |
=14 |
=12 |
15 |
14 |
* |
15 |
= Tied for that position
* Not in top 15.
RETURNING TO TOP 15 THIS YEAR
Alaska (#15)
Dropped Out of Top 15 This Year
Montana (was #15)
TABLE 2
TOP FIVE STATES – BY AGE AND GENDER
"If you could live in any state in the
country, except the state you live in now, what state would you
choose to live in?"
Base: All U.S. adults
| |
Generation |
Gender |
|
Rank |
Echo Boomers (18 to 30) |
Gen X (31 to 42) |
Baby Boomers (43 to 61) |
Matures (62+) |
Men |
Women |
|
1 |
California |
California |
Hawaii |
California |
California |
Hawaii |
|
2 |
Texas |
Hawaii |
Florida |
Florida |
Florida |
California |
|
3 |
New York |
Florida |
California |
Hawaii |
Hawaii |
Florida |
|
4 |
Florida |
North Carolina |
North Carolina |
North Carolina |
North Carolina |
North Carolina |
|
5 |
Hawaii |
Pennsylvania |
Colorado |
Oregon |
Texas |
New York |
TABLE 3
U.S. CITIES PEOPLE WOULD MOST LIKE TO LIVE IN OR NEAR TO
"If you could live in or near any city in
the country except the one you live in or nearest to now, which
city would you choose?"
Base: All U.S. Adults
|
|
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
|
New York, NY |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
San Diego, CA |
=7 |
=7 |
9 |
5 |
=2 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
Seattle, WA |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
=9 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
|
San Francisco, CA |
=5 |
1 |
3 |
=6 |
=2 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
|
Las Vegas, NV |
* |
=15 |
12 |
=6 |
=5 |
=14 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
|
Orlando, FL |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
12 |
* |
14 |
6 |
|
Honolulu, HI |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
=13 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
|
Phoenix, AZ |
3 |
=5 |
10 |
=10 |
10 |
* |
7 |
13 |
=12 |
8 |
|
Denver, CO |
4 |
=5 |
6 |
4 |
=5 |
=6 |
=9 |
7 |
=7 |
=9 |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
* |
14 |
=13 |
=12 |
11 |
10 |
5 |
12 |
11 |
=9 |
|
Chicago, IL |
10 |
=12 |
5 |
=6 |
=7 |
=6 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
11 |
|
Boston, MA |
=7 |
=7 |
7 |
9 |
=7 |
12 |
=13 |
11 |
10 |
12 |
|
Charlotte, NC |
14 |
* |
* |
* |
=13 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
13 |
|
Portland, OR |
12 |
=12 |
=15 |
=12 |
=13 |
=14 |
8 |
10 |
=12 |
14 |
|
Miami, FL |
13 |
* |
* |
=14 |
=13 |
11 |
=15 |
* |
* |
15 |
= Tied for that position
* Not in top 15
cities New to top 15 this year
Charlotte (#13); Miami (#15)
Cities which dropped out of top 15 this year
Atlanta (was tied for #7); Nashville (was #15)
Methodology
This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the
United States between August 7 and 13, 2007 among 2,694 adults (aged 18 and
over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household
income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual
proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to
adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use
probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most
often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage
error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors
with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100%
response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close
to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those
who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been
weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample
is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no
estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of
the National Council on Public Polls.
J31427
Q805, 810
|
Print
