Alert – Map reveals where Americans are fleeing – and the states that are suddenly booming

Americans are voting with their feet — and they’re opting for lower taxes, and cheaper, bigger homes in the Sun Belt, new US Census Bureau data revealed.

Last year, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina were the most popular destinations for domestic migrants. Together, they saw a net gain of some 366,000 people.

Meanwhile, residents waved goodbye to California, New York, and Illinois in droves. Those states recorded the biggest exodus, which added up to a whopping loss of 540,000 people.

The bureau’s recently-released data show a continuation of America’s domestic migration trends, which are away from high-tax blue states and toward red states with lower income taxes.

Ana Bozovic, of Miami Analytics, who studied the data, said it showed a migration flow to Florida and other ’21st Century epicenters across America’ that will continue for decades. 

Last year, Texas , Florida , and North Carolina were the most popular destinations for domestic migrants. (Pictured: Downtown Charlotte, North Carolina)

‘Entrepreneurship and creation flow towards the path of least resistance,’ Bozovic said.

‘I do not see a reversal: there will be no mass reverse migration back to high-tax states.’

Americans mostly relocate for better jobs, affordable housing, cheaper living costs, and to cut their tax bills.

Some move away from high crimes areas, homelessness, and the sight of drug addicts stumbling on the sidewalk.

Mark Perry, an expert at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, says it comes down to economics and policy choices.

Democratic leadership creates ‘economically stagnant, fiscally unhealthy states,’ he says.

Residents are pushed out by ‘higher tax burdens and unfriendly business climates,’ he says.

Red states are ‘more economically vibrant, dynamic and business-friendly,’ meaning they draw in newcomers with job and business opportunities and cheaper homes, he adds.

California was the biggest loser last year, with a net outflow of some 268,000 residents.

Some 55,000 of them went to Texas. Neighboring Arizona and Nevada were also popular destinations for those exiting the Golden State.

New York overall lost 179,000 people, with more people leaving than heading to the state.

Florida was by far the most popular destination for those leaving the Empire State, with 46,000 people making that switch.

Texas meanwhile posted the biggest net gain of all states, amounting to some 133,000 people.

Florida was up by 126,000 people and North Carolina gained by 107,000 people.

Scott Wilhide, his wife Alysia, and their son Jackson, set up in their new home in Houston, Texas, after leaving Pennsylvania.

Time to go. A moving truck outside a home in Queens, in New York City. 

The sight of homeless people struggling with fentanyl addiction on the streets of the Bay Area has become all-too-common for some long term residents.   

State taxes help account for this movement.

California’s state income tax rate of 13.3 percent, and the 10.9 percent levy on New Yorkers’ paychecks send residents packing.

Hawaii, New Jersey, and Oregon, are losing people because of their double-digit income tax rates.

Florida and Texas levy no state income tax, which doubtless appeals to many newcomers.

According to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit policy group, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Nevada, are also especially attractive because they do not levy taxes on workers’ wages.

Still, it remains unclear whether low-tax red states offer a better deal overall.

Residents of red, southern states often struggle to access decent schools and healthcare, or get walloped by high property taxes instead.

Property prices also help explain the movement pattern.

The typical home price in California ($791,000) and New York ($459,000) is much higher than in Texas ($303,000) and Florida ($415,000), according to Zillow.

The trend affects people from all walks of life.

Billionaire Elon Musk is perhaps the best known member of California’s exodus.

In July, he said he was moving his social media platform X and his space company SpaceX from the Golden State to Texas.

Even billionaires are leaving the Golden State. Elon Musk said the ‘final straw’ for him was a state law that helped children change gender at school without telling their parents

Jared Troutman, 45, and Grace Xu, 37, didn’t want to spend $1 million on a one-bed in California

He’d long complained about California’s liberal politics, but the ‘final straw’ was a law that helped children change gender at school without telling their parents, he said.

The same applies for those on a budget.

Jason Troutman, 45, and Grace Xu, 37, moved from California to Arizona because they couldn’t afford to buy anywhere decent in their San Bruno neighborhood.

‘At the end of the day, we couldn’t go forward with paying a million dollars for a tiny, one-bedroom house,’ they said.

Instead, they opted for a quirky $695,000 house with a pool, palm trees and mountain views in the Ahwatukee neighborhood on the south side of Phoenix.

‘You can’t get all that in California anymore, unless you’re Elon Musk,’ said Troutman, who works remotely.

Their mortgage costs less than their monthly $2,600 rent in San Bruno, and they finally have space for the cat and dog they’d wanted.

Still, Troutman said they miss the Bay Area’s natural beauty, its food scene, and their family ties there.

‘It wasn’t necessarily that we wanted to leave the Bay Area,’ he told The Mercury News. ‘But it made a lot of sense.’

Some demographers say politics also influences migration trends.

Some New Yorkers leave the state because of homelessness and other social problems, like this encampment in a park in downtown New York City

Parts of the South are steadily gaining population. Pictured:  Construction in the fast-growing downtown of Saint Petersburg, Florida

This homeless encampment of RVs in northern California underscores the high cost of housing in the Golden State  

Republican-run states tend to be more socially conservative, which appeals to people who share those values, and want to live in an area that restricts abortions and makes it easier to own firearms.

Some New York and California residents have doubtless considered relocating due to overcrowding, homelessness and fears of crime.

But others move to blue states for their own political reasons.

They include women who want to live somewhere they can access abortions, or families with transgender kids who want to access sex-change care.

America's interstate migration could affect the outcome of future elections.

Electoral boundaries are continually being redrawn as populations change.

Texas, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon gained Electoral College votes as a result of the 2020 Census.

Meanwhile, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia lost voting clout.