TRENTON, NJ – For every 34 families moving into New Jersey, 100 are moving out. On top of that, New Jersey leads the nation in the most abandoned state in the country where people are fleeing faster than they are moving in.
According to MoveBuddah, New Jerseyans are leaving. While MoveBuddah did not say why the administration of Governor Phil Murphy has often been blamed for the mass exodus. High taxes, long-term COVID-19 lockdowns, prisoner release programs, bail reform, high cost of living, high fuel prices, congestion, quality of life and progressive liberal policies are pushing people in droves out of the state.
What else would you expect in a state where the governor told his constituents, “If taxes are your main concern, New Jersey’s not the state for you.
When asked about diminished personal freedoms during his extended COVID-19 lockdown, Murphy also told residents, “The U.S. Constitution is above my pay grade.”
Can you blame them for leaving?
The majority of New Jerseyans are heading to Florida, the 2022 New Jersey Migration Report details.
Unofficially, much of New Jersey is known as the Exit State where people identify by which exit they live near off of the Garden State Parkway. Today, Exit State refers to the sheer number of people exiting the state for greener pastures.
Here are some key findings in the report:
- 2022 data for state-to-state moves shows that for every 34 moves into New Jersey, there are 100 out, greater outbound interest than any other state.
- 1 in 4 searches for outbound moves is for Florida cities.
- The top states for New Jerseyans headed out in 2022 are Florida, California, and Texas.
- Expect major exits from Trenton, NJ, where there are over twice as many searches for outbound moves than inbound.
- The 5 top cities to move to in 2022 are: Naples, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, and Tampa; 8 of the 20 most searched cities are in Florida.
- Manasquan, NJ to Naples, FL is the #1 most searched route in early 2022.
- Small city Maurice River has seen the steepest population decline over the last decade (-27%).
“Recently, the New Jersey Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran recently ran an editorial arguing that he didn’t believe outmigration from New Jersey was a real problem. And in some ways, he’s right. The state population increased 5.7% from the 2010 to 2020 census. New Jersey has been steadily gaining an international population. Today, almost 25% of its population is foreign-born,” wrote MovingBuddah’s Joe Robison.
Robison said New Jersey has lost more wealth in recent years than other states by comparison.
“But it also suffered the nation’s 5th largest loss in wealth: $2.3 billion in income left New Jersey in 2020 alone when some New Jersey residents found new homes in other states,” he wrote. “When New Jerseyites leave their home state, they’re overwhelmingly moving to Florida. 24.63% of movers are heading down to a new shore. Most of the income loss from New Jersey’s movers is also heading to Florida. IRS data from 2019 to 2020 shows that the biggest slice of New Jersey’s lost income is winding up in Florida’s coffers.”
You can read the full report here.