The Real Reason People Are Flocking to Red States
9th January 2024
The most frequently cited reason for this ongoing blue-to-red migration is taxes — or, more correctly, the opportunity to pay less and fewer of them. When American Enterprise Institute researcher Mark Perry compared the top ten states people were leaving in 2021 with the top ten they were moving to, the former had an average maximum income tax rate of 8 percent, while the places they were heading for had an average rate of just 3.8 percent. Even when it comes to gas taxes, drivers in red states pay significantly less than those on blue roads.
Job opportunity is also a strong red state lure. Of the seventeen fastest-hiring states, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fourteen went for Trump in the last election. And of the three that went for Biden, two — Georgia and Nevada — are really more purple than blue. On the other hand, all ten of the slowest-hiring states voted for Biden.
And although it tends to be mentioned less frequently than either taxes or jobs, housing affordability is clearly a third reason why people are leaving blue jurisdictions. Indeed, the median home price in the ten states currently gaining the most people averages 23 percent less than in the ten states losing the most.
By their fruits ye shall know them.