Blue-State Exodus Drains $700 Billion from NY and NJ

Economist Steve Moore, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity, told FOX Business that New York and New Jersey have collectively lost “two-thirds of a trillion dollars in net income and purchasing power” over the last decade as residents continue to move out.

“This has been one of the greatest wealth losses for one region in American history,” Moore said. “New Jersey and New York are being bled to death by low-tax states in the South.”

According to the group’s Vote With Your Feet project, New York suffered the largest loss of resident income from 2013 to 2022. New Jersey ranked fourth. California and Illinois followed with losses of $370.1 billion and $315.2 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, Florida saw the biggest increase, gaining more than $1 trillion in resident income over the same period. Texas recorded a $290 billion gain.

IRS tax-filing data from 2011-12 through 2021-22 show New York lost a net 1.757 million residents to other states. California followed with a loss of 1.632 million, Illinois with 881,012, and New Jersey with 350,111.

Florida and Texas were the nation’s top population gainers, adding 1.591 million and 1.268 million new residents, respectively — more than double the increase seen in third-place North Carolina.