Rich People Are Fleeing New York In Droves, Study Shows

NEW YORK — Money talks — and walks. Rich people led an exodus from New York last year as the state lost more residents than it gained.

That’s according to the 42nd annual “National Movers Study,” conducted by United Van Lines and published Wednesday. The study tracked the moving company's customers’ state-to-state migration patterns in 2018.

Some 61.5 percent of New York's movers left the state last year — a rate that ranked fourth in the nation for outbound moves — while just 38.5 percent were coming in, the study shows.

More than 41 percent of those who left earn $150,000 or more, the largest proportion among the five income brackets in the study. By contrast, just 8.4 percent of now-former New Yorkers earned less than $50,000, the study found.

The bulk of the Empire State's new arrivals were rich, too — about 46.2 percent of last year's inbound movers earn $150,000 or more, according to the study.

Work was the most common thing that drove people to and from New York, the study shows. More than 60 percent of those who moved to the state did so primarily for a job, while about 44 percent of those who left did the same.

More residents left New Jersey than any other state last year, the study found. More than 66 percent of movers in The Garden State headed elsewhere. That was a common thread in the Northeast, the study found, with Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts all in the top 10 outbound states. Several states in the Midwest also appeared near the top of the list.

Meanwhile, Vermont saw the highest percentage of inbound migration at 72.6 percent, and
states in the West also proved to be popular destinations. Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Washington all appeared in the top 10 for states with the highest inbound proportion.

“Unlike a few decades ago, retirees are leaving California, instead choosing other states in the Pacific West and Mountain West,” said Michael Stoll, economist and professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to a news release. “We’re also seeing young professionals migrating to vibrant, metropolitan economies, like Washington, D.C. and Seattle.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

(Lead image: Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)