Start spreading the news – they’ll be gone today.
People are making it out of Democratic-controlled New York and California and flocking to lower-tax places, including Republican-led Texas and Florida, according to a new study released Tuesday.
Sunny California – the Golden State – has gone from Dreamin’ to Leavin’, a report from truck rental transportation service U-Haul shows, while more people are leaving the once-mighty Empire State than moving to New York City.
Last year, California had more deaths with one-way U-Haul rentals than moves to the state — New York ranked 46th. The rest of the bottom six is rounded out by another group of popular blue states: New Jersey at No. 45, Massachusetts at No. 47, Michigan at No. 48 and Illinois at No. 49.
“Equipment demand from California, Illinois and New York remains strong in 2022 as more people choose to leave the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest,” the U-Haul report said.
Where do people move to? Texas is the No. 1 growth state for the second year in a row and the fifth time since 2016, U-Haul reports.
Florida, in second place, has been a top three growth state for seven years in a row.
South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio and Idaho round out the top 10 growth states with more U-Haul trips than leaving states.
The U-Haul study echoes similar reports released by other moving companies, including United Van Lines, which found last year that the NY-NJ metro area experienced the most commutes in the country.
Meanwhile, the Empire Public Policy Center reported last month that New York State lost 180,341 people in the 12 months ending July 1, 2022, bringing the total population to 524,079 after the April 1, 2020 decennial census amid the coronavirus pandemic. people have decreased.
New York has also lost some of its millionaires, who pay a disproportionate share of state and city taxes, according to a recent Empire Center analysis of IRS data, including well-heeled Manhattan residents.
U-Haul in New York outnumbered arrivals from New York by 50.3% to 49.7%, the report said.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said during her inaugural address Sunday that halting New York’s population decline is a top priority.
“We need to reverse the trend of people leaving our state to seek lower costs and opportunities elsewhere. We can do it,” Hochul said.
“We must make our state more affordable. Yes, people want to be here. . . And New Yorkers struggle just to pay rent, food and gas to get to work. They hurt. Our people are suffering. We will fight for them.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said people are flocking to the Sunshine State from New York and other Northeastern states because of lower taxes and sounder criminal justice and education policies – the Empire State. is also an unpopular dig. cashless bail law.
Do-it-yourself movers to the Sunshine State accounted for 50.7% of all one-way U-Haul truck traffic in and out of Florida, and 49.3% of departures.
DeSantis said during his opening remarks Tuesday that it’s the “freedom” that draws people to Florida.
“He [freedom] It lives on with the dreams of historic families who moved thousands of miles away because they saw Florida as the land of the free and the land of sanity,” DeSantis said.
“Just as many states in our country have been hurting their citizens over the past few years, here in Florida we have raised our people up. When other states consigned the freedom of their people to the dustbin, Florida stood firm as a pillar of freedom.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — who has clashed with New York officials over transporting migrants here — tooted the Lone Star State’s horn when asked by U-Haul customers about the top destination.
“The Texas economy is booming. People and businesses vote with their feet, and they choose to move to Texas more than any other state in the country,” Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, considered the Democratic White House hopeful unless President Biden seeks re-election or runs in a post-Biden era, will have to defend his governing record amid population loss in the nation’s most populous state. .
The U-Haul Growth Index is a powerful indicator of how well states and cities are attracting and retaining residents, the company said.