Americans Move to Low-Tax States, ‘Vote with Their Feet’

The Hill has a fascinating article about the upcoming United States census and its implications on the political process. One interesting population trend: Americans continue to move to lower-tax states which values economic competitiveness.

This is no surprise to me.  My family and I moved from California to Texas, and we couldn’t be happier.  We know what sociologists are only now learning: people move to states with lower taxes, especially those without personal income taxes, and from states with a heavy tax burden. 

Moving is a way that Americans “vote with their feet,” or perhaps a way to vote with boxes and lots of packing tape.  

The Hill has more:

The two biggest winners from the 2019 population estimates are Texas, which gained 367,215 new residents on net, and Florida, which gained 233,420. Neither the Lone Star State nor the Sunshine State have a personal income tax. The two states with the largest population losses in 2019 were New York, with a net loss of 76,790 residents and Illinois, which lost 51,250. New York and Illinois have some of the highest tax burdens in America, and their policy mistakes are costing them dearly. Moving away from the large states, a quartet of low tax states – Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Utah – led the way this past year in terms of overall population growth as a percentage of their population.

Also, California is about to make history for possibly losing a congressional seat due to outward migration:

One of the most shocking results now projected for 2020 comes from California. Since statehood in 1850, the Golden State gained congressional seats after every decennial census due to massive population gains. But the cost of living, driven by sky-high taxes and onerous regulations, started to take a toll by 2010 when California failed to gain a new seat. Based on the 2019 estimates it is likely that California will actually lose its first congressional seat since 1850 due to residents leaving the state.

By the way, one reason the left wants everything run through the Federal Government is this: when the Feds control everything, there’s no place to move.

Here’s more:

Of the nine states with no personal income tax on wages, seven experienced positive domestic migration in the past year, totaling a net gain of 371,201 in 2019 alone. The nine states with the highest income tax rates suffered a net loss of -438,326 in the past year. Apart from the straightforward exercise above, there is an abundance of academic research supporting the idea that taxes and economic policies drive migration across states. 

What states are learning is that – shock! – people hate to be taxed and love economic opportunity.  If the state political leaders don’t come to grips with this reality, the state will pay the price and the roads will be blogged with moving vans.

I’m living proof that “voting with your feet” works, even when our political process does not.

Or, especially when it doesn’t.

Hat Tip: The Hill

Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo