Most people who left New York headed to these states for greener pastures

Business Insider

19 hours ago

In 2021, Taylor and Tatum Barnes decided to leave New York City.
The couple paid $160,000 for a one-bedroom fixer-upper in the small town of Pomfret, Vermont; their mortgage payment is half of what they spent on rent for a studio apartment in Brooklyn. They felt the property, which came with 2.6 acres of land, was the perfect place for them to start a homestead and grow their family.
The slower pace of life in Vermont has been refreshing, even more so now that they have a toddler in tow. While they're "still exhausted" being young parents juggling work and family life, one thing's for sure, Tatum told Business Insider: "I just can't imagine how we'd pull it off in New York."
Census data released in October 2024 indicates that more than 481,500 people left New York for another state between 2022 and 2023, while just over 302,835 moved into New York from elsewhere in the US. The data comes from the American Community Survey, which includes responses to questions concerning moving patterns.
Between 2021 and 2022, about 545,600 people left New York, while 301,500 moved in. Between 2020 and 2022, New York City lost nearly half a million residents.
Unsurprisingly, New Jersey captured the second-most movers, with those who wanted a break from the city without having to travel too far. Others made much farther moves.
Florida had the most movers from New York, while Pennsylvania and California followed New Jersey. Texas and North Carolina also received a large number of New Yorkers.
Elliott Harrell left New York City for Raleigh, North Carolina, and found that her dollar goes a lot further down south.
Harrell and her husband rented a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn before buying a four-bedroom home in Raleigh with an extra 2,800 square feet. She told BI that her mortgage is less than what her rent was in New York.
"Overall, we've found that the cost of living is lower," she said. "Going out to eat or grabbing cocktails is significantly less expensive than it was in New York."
New York is expensive, but the benefits outweigh the cons for some
Over 31,000 people moved from California to New York between 2023 and 2024, while nearly 28,000 made the move from Pennsylvania. Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas also had large outflows into New York.
New Jersey took the top spot as the state losing residents to New York. California sent the second-most movers, and places like Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas were behind.
A move from Tennessee to New York is an unexpected route, but for Lisa Miller, it was exactly what she needed.
Miller moved to Brooklyn from Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband and three children.
She pays three times the amount of her mortgage in Tennessee, but she told BI that moving has been great for her children.
"The schools they've ended up in are incredible, and we feel a lot of support," she said. There's more focus on social-emotional development in New York than in Tennessee schools.
New York isn't for everyone
Social media manager Julia Broome told BI in 2023 that she moved from Los Angeles to New York City to start a new job.
However, the city's reality didn't exactly meet her expectations. As a woman, she was constantly on high alert while walking along the sidewalks, which were also often littered with trash.
Although she was used to high rental prices in Los Angeles, she felt that her money didn't stretch as far in New York City. She ended up moving into a one-bedroom apartment in Hudson Yard with a roommate — and slept in the living room.
After five months, Broome moved back to LA because the job she had moved for ultimately changed.
"I felt myself spiral. They say New York City will chew you up and spit you out, and that's how it felt to me," Broome said.