September 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, New estimates from the American Community Survey which is billed as the premier source for detailed information about the American people and workforce , suggest New Jersey lost about 13,000 people from 2015 to 2016, which would reverse several years of slow growth since the state was decimated by the housing crisis in the mid-to-late-2000s.
If this holds New Jersey may have lost population for the first time in a decade . Household formation is one of the key economic drivers . A loss of population could lead to further economic stagnation, a reduced tax base and a potential loss of a congressional district.
While many debate the issue analysis by NJ Advance Media (NJ.COM) shows about 226,000 people moved out of the state between 2015 and 2016, about 30,000 less than the total who moved to the Garden States from within the country and abroad.
With a historically low birth rate, New Jersey’s growth in recent years has hinged upon immigration . However the number of people leaving keeps growing, stagnating the state’s population on the cusp of nine million.
Poll after poll list New Jersey as the state most people want to leave . High taxes, particularly property taxes, estate taxes , high cost of living , state corruption and limited job opportunities are all sighted as reasons to flee New Jersey.
