We're able to keep up with Amish migration trends thanks to a new study by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
The Amish are expanding their presence in states such as Missouri, Kentucky and Minnesota as they search for affordable farmland to accommodate a growing population, the Associated Press reported this week.
Why?
Researchers say the Amish are leaving for a number of reasons, including suburban congestion and sprawl, high land prices, tourism and other intrusive influences, disputes with municipal authorities over issues such as zoning, weak regional economies, occupational changes (such as the closing of markets or factories) and church-related troubles or disputes.
They head to locales where they find fertile farmland at reasonable prices or non-farm work in specialized occupations and the rural isolation that supports their traditional, family-based lifestyle, according to the new study.
The Amish now number an estimated 227,000 nationwide -- a population that's nearly doubled from 123,000 in 1992, according to researchers.
Between 2002 and 2007, Pennsylvania -- the second most populous Amish state with 51,600 -- claimed 187 new families but lost 468 to other states, for a net loss of 281.
The Lancaster County settlement includes 169 local church districts, including at least two in the southeastern part of York County.
Districts are self-governing areas with geographic boundaries such as roads and streams. About 25 to 40 households live in each district. As the number of members grows, the district divides. Read more about Amish organization here.
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