By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
People in rural Kansas have talked about the "brain drain" for years.
Data released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau showed the statistics behind the loss of young adults from northwest Kansas.
Hays is retaining only about 50 percent of young adults between 28 and 36.
Doug Williams, Grow Hays executive director, said losing so many young adults is not sustainable unless those individuals can be replaced with other people.
The drain of young people is often associated with with job opportunities elsewhere and quality of life issues, Williams said.
The study done in cooperation with researchers from Harvard, looked at nationwide statistics divided into commuting areas.
Rural Kansas losing more young adults
More rural areas in northwest Kansas fared worse than Hays.
Percent of young adults retained
• 30 percent Oberlin
• 33 percent Norton
• 36 percent Goodland
• 37 percent Phillipsburg
• 42 percent Colby
• 47 percent Great Bend.
The youth migration statistics mirrored overall migration patterns in Kansas that were released in 2021. Young people are migrating from rural areas of the state to metro areas.
Wichita and the Kansas City metro areas saw much higher young adult retention rates of 68 percent and 73 percent respectively.
Just over 8 percent of the young adults who moved from Hays went to Kansas City, 3.8 percent moved to Wichita, and 2.3 percent went to Denver — a total loss of more than 14 percent.
Another 7.1 percent of Hays' young adults went to other larger communities in Kansas, including Manhattan, Salina and Topeka.
"I think that is pretty reflective of what has been happening in rural America, whether it be Hays or smaller communities," Williams said."There is the loss of younger people for a variety of reasons.
"Sometimes it's better job opportunities elsewhere. Sometimes it's just kids wanting to get to the big city."
The average young adult who grew up in Hays moved to an area about 183 miles away for their job. That is 2 miles above the national average (181 miles).
Nationally, about 80 percent of young adults stay within 100 miles of where they were raised. Kansas' large geographic area and rural nature bucks that trend.
What the statistics don't show is Hays has a fair number of young people come back when they decide to settle down and start families, Williams said.
There are jobs in Ellis County, Williams said. Ellis County had a 2.1 percent unemployment rate in June.
"Certainly on the job side, I would contend a young person that is a professional whether that is a teacher or a health care provider or even a skilled laborer, there is more than ample opportunity here to make a good living," he said.
He said he thought Hays has a good quality of life to offer residents.
"I focus more on what can we recruit," Williams said. ... "Many experts are saying we are talking about the migration away from urban areas because of the cost, because of crime, because of traffic, because of all the hassle and hustle and bustle because of life in the city.
"People are looking to migrate into more rural areas, and I think that is a great opportunity for us, particularly with the remote working capability that can occur now."
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Brent Kaiser, development and sports coordinator for Special Olympics Kansas, said he accepted his job with Special Olympics about a year ago because it included remote work and allowed him to stay in Hays.
Kaiser directs Special Olympics sports for all of western Kansas and fundraises in an area that stretches to Kansas City.
He said he and his wife, who grew up in Gorham, said they appreciate the quality of life in Hays and wanted to raise their three children, now ages 7, 12 and 17, in Hays.
Kaiser, 38, who grew up in Hays, moved in and out of Hays several times before finally deciding to settle in Hays permanently.
"I probably would not have taken the job had it not been remote," he said. "It wouldn't have been an option for me. The Hays community is important to me. Giving back to the Hays community and allowing my kids to grow up here is an important piece for me."
Sara Bloom, 38, recently took a job as a community development specialist with the Kansas Department of Commerce. Remote work is allowing her and her family to stay in Hays. Sara and her husband have lived in Hays for 16 years.
"My family and I are rooted in Hays, and we love this community. The fact that I get to serve our entire state in my new position while still making an impact on Hays, is invaluable," she said.
"I feel my location also played a role in my hiring. I get to serve the entire state and that means getting into a lot of communities. Hays is central enough, I can get just about anywhere in four hours or less. That makes traveling easy, and it means I’m home at night for dinner with my family."
Bloom said Hays is home.
"We love the restaurants, the parks, the events and of course all things downtown," she said. "Our kids are happy in their schools and recognize that there are opportunities for them here.
"We feel connected here in ways that we just didn’t when we lived in more populated areas. Is there room to be better, always, but I want to be a part of that process too, and I can be."
Gabe Warrick, 26, is moving back to Hays with his wife from Lexington, Ky. Warrick works for BlueFrame Technologies, and his company has agreed to let him work remotely.
Both Warrick and his wife are Fort Hays State University graduates and were raised in Larned. The couple wanted to be closer to family in the area.
"I like the people in Hays. We've got some college friends that stuck around Hays and some high school friends as well," he said. ...
"I think I'm looking forward to getting back to Hays with more of the community feel where you can be a little bit more involved."
Williams questioned if the census statistics are really telling the community's whole story.
The number of on-campus students at FHSU has decreased in the last several years, but the number of apartment vacancies is still near to zero, he said.
"We've had an influx of people," he said. "I know we have. I think a lot of it is this remote work and people choosing to move here. It's just hard to validate it from any data."
Challenges remain for Hays, other rural communities
Hays needs to tell its story outside of the community to continue to recruit, Williams said.
"A doctor, they can go anywhere they want. They can live and work anywhere they want," he said.
"We just want to make sure they look at our community and understand the benefits that we have to offer versus maybe Denver were they have to drive an hour to work and get stuck in traffic and housing is crazy expensive."
Housing is more affordable in Hays compared to a metro like Denver, but Hays still has a long way to go to provide enough affordable housing, Williams said.
"We've got to do a better job and speed up the pace," he said of building housing stock, "if we're going to take advantage of this great opportunity of this migration from urban areas to rural areas."
Williams said Hays has a great story to tell. Passage of a school bond issue in May further added to the story of quality of life in the community.
More rural communities in northwest Kansas have gaps, and that not only effects rural Kansas, but Hays as well. Rural areas may not have high-speed broadband access and might lack other amenities that mid-size cities like Hays can offer, Williams said.
Hays relies heavily on drawing retail customers from the larger rural area. As the surrounding rural population dwindles, Hays is going to need to grow to sustain its economy, Williams said.
Hays grew 1.7 percent between 2010 and 2020, but Hays' trade area shrunk by about 5 percent.
"That's an unsustainable situation," Williams said. "We have to keep pace. If that is going to continue, we have to grow at a much faster rate than we have been growing to think we would have the same retail activity. ...
"We don't want to see migration out of this area at all."
While the number of young people leaving Hays is alarming, Williams said he thought Hays is doing the right things to keep more young people in Hays and recruit new individuals and families to the community.
"We're never going to retain as many people as Kansas City, Kan.," he said. "It's just not in the cards, but we can do better than 50 percent."