Report: People move for jobs, housing, weather -- but not so much because of taxes
A clip from a "heat map" of where people from the Capital Region moved to (if leaving the area) in recent years, based on an AOA look at Census data earlier this year.
More bits for the ongoing people moving from New York/high taxes discussion: A report out this month from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank, concludes that most people don't leave a state because of high taxes. Instead, they're much more likely to move because of jobs, cheaper housing, or weather.
A clip from the report:
Less than 3 percent of Americans move across state lines in an average year, despite significant and persistent interstate differences in tax levels. Economists and demographers have known for decades that those who do move are primarily seeking more plentiful and higher-paying jobs -- with cheaper housing, a desired physical and cultural environment, and proximity to family and friends being important secondary considerations. There is no evidence that any more than a tiny minority of people making an interstate move are deliberately "voting with their feet" in favor of a state that levies lower taxes.
The report includes a bunch of interesting bits, and focuses in part on New York (which experienced the highest net out-migration of any state between 1993-2011, based on IRS data).
In a different report earlier this year from a different think, the Tax Foundation, New York once again topped the list for the percentage of income that went to state and local taxes. And the popular reasons cited by respondents for wanting to leave New York, according to a Gallup poll also out this spring: cost of living (21 percent), business-related (15 percent), family/friends (16 percent), and taxes (14 percent).
As with any of these sorts of reports or rankings, it's important to know where the think tank is coming from. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities describes itself as a "policy [organization] working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals." (It's probably fair to see it's skeptical of tax cuts for higher-income households.)
Earlier on AOA:
+ If you could move from New York, would you?
+ This just in: New York has high taxes
+ Where people moved to/from when moving from/to the Capital Region
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Comments
While people may not consciously state they're moving because of higher taxes, when they move "because of jobs, cheaper housing..." they're moving because of higher taxes -- or, at the very least, the effects of higher taxes.
... said Joe Fusco on May 30, 2014 at 3:07 PM | link
seems that if that's the case, they're really clueless about things. we moved from virginia (hubby's from long island, i'm from vt) and while things are slightly more expensive, my house in Glenville is far CHEAPER as far as the cost of the house than a comparable house in Virginia Beach, for example, which has 'low' taxes compared to up here...one does not necessarily follow the other...
... said stacey1771 on May 30, 2014 at 8:24 PM | link
Joe-
That's just not true. Jobs and cheaper housing result from a variety of factors. If it was the case that lowering taxes creates jobs and cheaper housing why is it that Kentucky, which has very low combined state and local taxes, has one of the nations highest unemployment rates?
... said hock41 on May 31, 2014 at 10:09 AM | link