Another analysis has shown that high-tax, high-regulation, Democrat-run states continue to shed residents, losing them to Republican-run red states with far less regulatory burdens and a less-expensive lifestyle.
“Low taxes and warm weather were once again a draw for Americans in 2022, with Florida and Texas seeing the most migration from other states, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors,” Financial Adviser reported. “And on the flip side, California, New York and Illinois are losing the most people.”
The site noted that Americans have been leaving high-tax states for several years, many moving to the Sun Belt looking for bigger homes, more sunshine, and lower expenses. That trend really accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and proceeded through last year, even while office buildings were reopening in large Democrat-run cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, and employees were called back.
While many workers came back and welcomed the bustling city life, many others grew weary of cramped urban apartments that were overpriced, as well as the rising cost of just about everything else, including food, amenities, and utilities. And let’s not forget the rising crime rates in these Democrat-run cities.
“While affordability hit record lows in 2022, it is the primary reason that people continue to relocate from these big city centers to less dense and more affordable areas,” wrote NAR economist Nadia Evangelou.
Noting the trend, the Illinois Policy center reported last week:
Nearly 1.2 million Americans, including 141,656 Illinoisans, moved to other states in 2022, with most of them picking low-tax states, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Tax Foundation data.
The top five states that drew new residents each had total effective tax rates of 9.9% or lower. Those states accounted for 68% of migrants moving to new states nationwide.
“The bottom five states, including Illinois at third from the bottom, that lost residents all had total effective tax rates of 11.5% or higher and were responsible for 76% of all migrants moving to other states. Illinois state and local governments took 12.9% of all the money made during 2022 in the state as taxes,” the report said.
“Illinois is losing residents five times faster than any of its neighboring states. Worse, the data disproves a common notion that people are leaving Illinois because of the weather. While Illinoisans left the state, neighboring Kentucky, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri each gained residents from other states – and they don’t get their own, special weather,” the policy center added.
At CPAC’s 2022 confab in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis noted that his state has become a beacon of liberty for Americans under GOP leadership.
“People are coming to Florida because they want Freedom,” he said. “These are people who are fleeing leftist governments in this country and even around the world. People sometimes ask me, those people are moving here from blues states. Are they just gonna vote the same way and make our state a blue state basket case like the states they came from?”
“Well, I got elected governor in 2018, there were almost 300,000 more registered Democrats in the state of Florida than Republicans. In Florida, I’ve never had more registered Republicans than Democrats in the history of our state.”
