Lots of people are moving out of Boston, making the city one of the top in the US in terms of percentage of residents lost, according to an article in today’s Boston Globe reporting on figures released from the US Census Bureau. Boston lost more than 30,000 people from 2000 to 2005, putting us on par in terms of percent lost with cities like Cleveland, Detroit and Flint, Michigan.

Some blame the high cost of housing (oh, by the way, rents are on the rise again, according to another Globe article.

I wonder how many of these people are researchers and scientists. I’ve been thinking of doing a story about whether there’s a major problem with large numbers of researchers (particularly younger ones) leaving Boston, despite all the great labs in the city, because they can’t get by on a postdoc stipend in this city of sky-high rents. Or maybe they’re staying in Boston, but fleeing academia for more high-paying jobs in industry, etc? Is the high cost of housing leading to a scientific brain drain in Boston? Is it a major problem? Please post a comment here.