A new analysis reveals that New York and New Jersey have lost billions in taxable income due to a significant outflow of residents in recent years.
According to a Tuesday report from Unleash Prosperity, using Census and IRS data, New York lost $517.5 billion in resident income from 2013 to 2022, while New Jersey lost $170.1 billion over the same period. The report tracks each state’s cumulative gains and losses in resident income, accounting for the fact that when someone moves, their income shifts to the new state for all subsequent years—not just the first year after relocating.
“New York and New Jersey combined have lost two-thirds of a trillion dollars in net income and purchasing power over the last decade due to moving vans departing these states,” Steve Moore, economist and co-founder of Unleash Prosperity, told FOX Business. “This has been one of the greatest wealth losses for one region in American history. New Jersey and New York are being bled to death by low tax states in the South.”
New York saw the biggest income loss of any state, while New Jersey ranked fourth. California lost $370.1 billion and Illinois $315.2 billion over the same period. Meanwhile, Florida gained more than $1 trillion in resident income from 2013 to 2022, and Texas added $290 billion.
Unleash Prosperity’s Vote With Your Feet project, which tracks how Americans and their income migrate between states, found major shifts over the past decade. From 2011–12 to 2021–22, New York lost a net 1.757 million residents, California lost 1.632 million, Illinois lost 881,012, and New Jersey lost 350,111. The biggest gainers were Florida, with 1.591 million new residents, and Texas, with 1.268 million—more than double the third-place winner, North Carolina, which gained 520,615.
