Unpayable rents, taxes as high as skyscrapers, crime. These factors are part of the range of complaints often heard from New Yorkers, as their neighbors across the Hudson River lament high property taxes.
Both states have the highest tax rates in the nation, but would be running out of taxpayers, according to the 45th Annual Study of National Removals de United Van Lines.
The report notes that New York and New Jersey are among the five states with the most pronounced population losses. Jersey led the way with 70% of United Van Lines customers leaving the state compared to 30% moving. 63% left the Empire State, with only 37% choosing the state as their home.
It’s a fact that Americans chose low-tax states. This is the finding of recent population data from the Census Bureau along with trade data released this week by U-Haul and United Van Lines.
Something to note: Recent Census data shows overall population gains and losses, while statistics from U-Haul and United Van Lines shed light on population movement between states, though those numbers are limited to geographic coverage. .
Both companies see states like California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York as the biggest losers, while states like Texas, Florida and Tennessee are among the biggest net beneficiaries.
America’s population grew 0.1 percent between July 2020 and July 2021, the lowest rate since the nation’s founding. Excess pandemic-induced deaths, virtually non-existent international immigration, and an already declining birth rate produced a nearly flat population trend across the country, according to Census figures.
However, the rise and fall of the population of the states is different. While New York lost 1.8 percent of its population in 2021, Idaho gained 3.4 percent, while Utah, Montana, Arizona, South Carolina, Delaware, Texas, Nevada, Florida, and North Carolina recorded increases of population of 1 percent or more.
Six of the states with significant population growth waive individual income taxes (Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Dakota). But resident-losing jurisdictions like California, New Jersey, New York, and the District of Columbia have double-digit income tax rates.
The annual study that tracks United Van Line’s unique data for state-to-state customer migration patterns found that Vermont was the state with the highest percentage of inbound migration (74%) with United Van Lines in 2021. Yet for the fourth year in a row, the study found that more residents were moving from New Jersey than to the state, with 71% of New Jersey moves abroad in 2021.
Three New Jersey regions also ranked among the nation’s top 10 metropolitan areas with outbound movements: Bergen-Passaic (76% out), Newark (74% out) and Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon (72%).
States such as Illinois (67%), New York (63%), Connecticut (60%) and California (59%), which have appeared regularly on the list of top emitters in recent years, were again ranked among the states with the biggest exoduses. Meanwhile, South Dakota (69%), South Carolina (63%), West Virginia (63%) and Florida (62%) were revealed as the top incoming states for 2021.
But in addition to taxes, residents seem to have opted for less populated states.
Of the top ten host states, six – Vermont, South Dakota, West Virginia, Alabama, Oregon, and Idaho – are among the 20 least densely populated states in the United States, with fewer than 100 people per square mile. And Tennessee and South Carolina are in the top 25.
Instead, nine of the top 10 issuing states – New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and California, among others – are considered densely populated, further illustrating America’s shift toward less populated states.
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