---
title: "Alaska, the Least ‘Sticky’ State"
description: "Just 28% of adults born in Alaska still live there, placing it last among the 50 states on this measure of population \"stickiness.\""
date: "2009-04-21"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2009/04/21/alaska-the-least-sticky-state/"
---

# Alaska, the Least ‘Sticky’ State

Alaska apparently isn’t much good at hanging on to its native sons and daughters; just 28% of adults born there still live there, placing it last among the 50 states on this measure of population “stickiness.” Texas, by contrast, knows how to hold ‘em. More than three-quarters of adults born in Texas still live there, making the Lone Star State the nation’s stickiest. Using Census data, the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project has created a typology that groups all 50 states and the District of Columbia by whether they are “magnets” or “sticky” — or both, or neither. Included in the full report is a list of magnet and sticky numbers for all states and D.C. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1146/magnet-sticky-states-typology)