A report released this Tuesday (11) and broadcast this Wednesday (12) by the broadcaster Fox Business showed that the Democratic-run states of New York and New Jersey have lost nearly $690 billion in resident income and purchasing power over the past decade due to the mass migration of Americans to lower-tax states such as Florida and Texas.
The study, prepared by the group Unleash Prosperity based on data from the Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – The US IRS points out that population flight is causing one of the biggest losses of regional wealth in the history of the United States.
According to the survey, New York lost US$517.5 billion in income between 2013 and 2022, while New Jersey accumulated losses of US$170.1 billion in the same period.
The economist and co-founder of Unleash ProsperitySteve Moore, stated at Fox that “New York and New Jersey are being bled to death by states that tax less in the South.”
According to the report, Florida was the largest destination for resources and residents who left the two Democratic states, recording a gain of more than US$1 trillion in income in the period analyzed. Texas comes in second place, with an increase of US$290 billion. These two states, governed by Republican leaders, have low tax policies, a favorable business climate and a lower cost of living – factors that, according to Fox Businesshave been attracting both families and companies that were based in New York and New Jersey.
The study also indicates that, between 2011 and 2022, New York lost 1.75 million residents, while New Jersey had a negative balance of 350 thousand people. In that same period, Florida welcomed 1.59 million new residents and Texas, 1.26 million.
“People are choosing states that respect their work and their income,” Moore told the American broadcaster.
The phenomenon is not recent. According to the portal The Center Squarefederal data shows that over the past three decades, about 13 million Americans have left traditionally Democratic states — such as California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts — for southern Republican states, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina. Researcher Edward J. Pinto, from American Enterprise Institutetold the outlet that “Americans are fleeing progressive states because they consider their economic and social policies unfeasible.”
According to Pinto, high taxes, rising crime, unaffordable housing and rising unemployment are the main factors driving the so-called “exodus from blue states.” He further warned that if Democratic leaders do not change their fiscal policies, these states “will face a cycle of permanent decline, with population loss, declining economic vitality, and rising poverty.”
