Americans Flee New York and California in Droves Seeking Affordability, Quality of Life

Fed up with skyrocketing rents and home prices, high crime, a continual influx of migrants, and other quality-of-life issues, New Yorkers and Californians poured out of those states in record numbers over the past year. A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau named New York as the state with the highest population decline, with almost 102,000 people exiting the Empire State from 2002 to 2023. California was close behind, with almost 75,500 leaving. Other heavy population loss states included Illinois at almost 33,300, followed by Louisiana at just over 14,000 and Pennsylvania at almost 10,500. Conversely, Texas experienced the biggest incoming population of 473,453, and Florida, in second place, added 365,205 residents. Combined with North Carolina and Georgia, those four states were responsible for 93 percent of the country’s population growth in 2022 and 67 percent in 2023....