Wealthy Americans are packing up and leaving “blue states” en masse, a shocking new report shows.
High-earners in California and New York are leaving the fastest, topping the list of 10 states where the wealthiest residents are leaving.
New data from SmartAsset shows a mass migration of households earning at least $200,000 or more annually.
California, the land of Silicon Valley and Hollywood glamour, said goodbye to 24,670 wealthy households.
New York comes close, with 12,040 of its highest-earning residents taking a trip.
High earners from California and New York are leaving faster than anyone else — they top the list of 10 states where the wealthiest residents are moving away (Crescent Bay or Laguna Beach, Orange County, California)
New York comes close, with 12,040 of the top earners hitting the road.
But it is not only the coastal states that are feeling the pressure.
Midwestern Illinois came in third, losing 9,292 wealthy families.
The list doesn’t stop there. Massachusetts said goodbye to 4,392 wealthy households, while New Jersey saw 3,863 high-income earners pack their bags.
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia each lost more than 2,000 affluent households, while Minnesota and Washington round out the top 10 with 1,784 and 1,579 affluent households, respectively.
New Jersey saw 3,863 high-income earners pack their bags
Washington rounded out the top 10, losing 1,579 wealthy households
Massachusetts said goodbye to 4,392 wealthy households
Tech haven Washington also lost a net 1,579 wealthy households
Experts point to a combination of sky-high taxes, rising costs of living and the post-pandemic work-from-anywhere revolution as the reason for this great escape.
In New York, 29,869 wealthy families left New York State, while only 17,829 moved in.
The tech state of Washington also lost a net 1,579 wealthy households.
In California, 48,875 households hit the road with a full car, while only 24,205 people moved.
The Golden State has been struggling in recent years with problems such as increasing homelessness and open drug abuse in major cities.
Homelessness rose 6 percent last year to more than 180,000 people in California, federal data shows, a 53 percent jump since 2013.
In recent years, many California residents have been leaving the state en masse due to this situation and the high cost of living.
Midwest Illinois came in third, losing 9,292 wealthy families
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia each lost more than 2,000 prosperous families
In 2023, California’s population grew by 0.17 percent, the first year of growth since the mass exodus that began in 2019.
Last year, many people and businesses moved out of San Francisco, looking for a way out of the city’s “doom loop.”
The city, like Los Angeles, has been in crisis in recent years, with skyrocketing homelessness and addiction.
Last year was the deadliest year on record for drug deaths, largely due to the increase in fentanyl.
Progressive “harm reduction” measures that do not criminalise the use of hard drugs are accused of exacerbating the crisis.
