For many of our research projects, we pull migration data from the IRS to forecast employment and housing needs. We've learned so much about the migration in so many areas, we thought it might be a fun experiment to pull some of this data for our hometown, St. Louis!

Based on the data, between 2009 and 2010 there were approximately 21,939 people migrating to St. Louis County and approximately 24,391 people migrating out of St. Louis County. While this data shows an overall deficit to the number of people staying in St. Louis County, this could be for various reasons. The number of people who left St. Louis County but did not leave the state of Missouri is 14,915. The remaining outflow migrants either left the state or country.

The largest faction of people who migrated into St. Louis County (7,345 migrants) came from St. Louis City. The reverse is also true; the largest group of people who migrated out of St. Louis County (6,647) migrated to St. Louis City. The second-largest common group is people migrating from St. Louis County to St. Charles County (3,741 migrants) or those migrating from St. Charles County to St. Louis County (2,273 migrants).

This type of data typically corresponds to employment rates, and since Missouri's unemployment rate jumped from around 6 percent to around 10 percent between 2009 and 2010, this data does appear to have corresponded with an overall loss of population during that time. However - don't panic yet, Missourisans - there is some good news. Missouri's unemployment rate has since since dropped to approximately 7 percent in August of 2013.

This type of migration and unemployment data can be used to project future needs for a city or county. Zanola can use this type of information in our research to determine where new developments will be needed, or what types of people will be coming to any given area. This data, in combination with other factors, can give an idea of what type of real estate investments and growth will be seen in the future.

By Rachel Ballard