>More people moved out of New Jersey than all but four other states between 2000 to 2008, underscoring broader demographic shifts and, some say, a decline in the state’s attractiveness.
Many in New Jersey taking an exit
Friday, September 17, 2010
By Leslie Kwoh
Star-Ledger staff
https://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-6/128471192669340.xml&coll=8
More people moved out of New Jersey than all but four other states between 2000 to 2008, underscoring broader demographic shifts and, some say, a decline in the state’s attractiveness.
Even with a constant influx of newcomers, the Garden State had a net loss of nearly 304,000 residents throughout the eight-year-period, who took combined annual incomes of $12.3 billion with them to other states, according to figures accessed through a database launched Thursday by the Tax Foundation, a policy research group in Washington, D.C. that advocates for lower taxes.
The data confirms residents are leaving for states like Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas faster than they are being replaced Ð a phenomenon that economists attribute to factors such as climate, high taxes and a lack of job opportunities.
“People are being pulled out, and they’re being pushed out,” said Joseph Seneca, a Rutgers University economics professor who studies migration. “They’re pulled because of retirement and climate reasons. They’re pushed by taxes and costs and Ð through this decade Ð a relative lack of economic opportunities in terms of job growth.”
New Jersey trails only New York, California, Illinois and Michigan for outmigration, according to the database, which tracks domestic movement by tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The number of residents moving were calculated based on tax exemptions, and incomes were adjusted for inflation.
Because one state’s loss is another’s gain, New Jersey’s outward trickle is troubling, Seneca said. And while departures appear to have waned in the last few years after peaking in the middle of the decade, he said it is most likely a temporary lull brought on by the recession.
Read more:
https://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-6/128471192669340.xml&coll=8
https://mytaxburden.org/migration/
