The overall shrinkage is good news. However, the report stated two of the fastest areas were Arkansas (plus 5.32%) and Tennessee (up 4.79%). Sigh. I guess Evangelicals, who must believe they are not radical enough, join Mormonism. The Seventh Day Adventists are growing here at an even quicker rate. I drive through the SDA University once a week to a rehearsal at a private home and they certainly have a strong presence in TN.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2022 02:15PM by Eric K.
The growth might be due to transplants moving in. I've seen an awful lot of people fleeing from Utah moving to southern states for better opportunities and lower cost of living.
Tennessee has no state income tax and Chattanooga and Nashville are two hot spots right now. Arkansas might be due to Mormons taking jobs at Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters. They are building a temple in Bentonville.
My experience with southern evangelicals and baptists is they don’t care for the Mormon religion. They see it as occultism and not Christian. Not exactly the group who’s going to become coverts.
Rubicon is probably right. Mormons moving to the state is causing growth in the church here. House prices are going up at an absurd rate. We are getting folks from Florida as well. My son-in-law, who is an architect, cannot keep up with demand and wishes he could hire more people.
TN is high on the list for retirement if you just go by the numbers. As with Idaho more people are marking it off their list now because of the other things going on.
Idaho is overpriced. Tennessee has no state income tax and is less expensive. I know someone who moved to Chattanooga and loves it but they are into horses and have a horse farm outside of town.
I have friends from LA and Chicago who moved to Nashville and love it. The main reason they moved is taxes.
As we all know, their numbers are inflated, so it is surprising to see them admit losses in some states. However they quickly announce gains in other states; their theme is shifts not losses. What to make of all this?
My guess: they're still minimizing losses and inflating gains. An honest accounting would show they never had the totals they claimed and likely a decline for the least 20 years.
I would bet a lot of the growth in Idaho is because it's seen as Utah North, meaning that the BYU-I students are likely to stay while many of the people who find the Utah housing markets too steep but want the same type of environment simply move north a few hundred miles. Or south, to AZ.
All three states have the critical mass of Mormons that some people find attractive.