Fewer and fewer Americans want to live in blue states, especially large cities in blue states.
The newest statistics show a huge exodus out of Illinois, California, New York, and other blue meccas. Where are they going? Red states.
Why Are They Leaving?
A new report from Wirepoints shows that record numbers of people are leaving blue states. Their main destinations are red states like Texas and Florida.
In fact, 699,000 new residents called Florida home in 2020 alone. Texas was second place, gaining an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $10.9 billion; next was Nevada, picking up $4.6 billion in AGI.
This is income flowing into state coffers and leaving blue states. California lost over $29 billion in 2020 because of 332,000 people leaving the state permanently. New York lost over $24 billion and 262,000.
Tax returns from 2020 and 2021 show how many people have left; this is hitting the bottom line very hard, especially in places like Illinois where the pension requires a stable workforce.
New York, meanwhile, lost $1.1 trillion in tax income, due to people leaving the state. The main reasons people are leaving are simple: they have had enough of high taxes, high crime, and woke culture.
I love #Illinois. It’s home and always will be. But numbers don’t lie, and there is no metric more telling than the amount of people who choose to grow their futures here versus somewhere else. We have a lot of work to do, despite what some may say. https://t.co/P4OauTHIeS
— Greg Hart (@_Greg_Hart) April 29, 2023
Refugees and ‘Leftugees’
As Stella Morabito wrote recently at the Federalist, there are two main types of people leaving blue states.
First, there are “leftugees” and then, there are refugees (conservatives). The leftugees still hold liberal and left-wing ideas, but the reality of what their states have become is too much for them and they didn’t want to get robbed and assaulted.
So, they move to lower-tax states like Nevada, North Carolina, or Texas and try to make a new life. The problem is they bring their leftist beliefs and woke culture with them and are starting to colonize red states.
Then, there are the blue state conservatives who are fleeing the high taxes, woke culture, crime, and big government. They move to red states and fit in, becoming part of the culture and respecting the patriotism and tradition in the less liberal areas.
This article appeared in FreshOffThePress and has been published here with permission.
