Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

More moving trucks left from California than any other state in 2022 for the third year in a row, while more Americans are flocking to Republican-led states like Texas and Florida, a new study published on Jan. 3 has found.

The study was conducted by the moving truck rental company, U-Haul, and found that Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas were the preferred destinations for one-way moving trucks in 2022, with those states ranking as the top growth states on the annual U-Haul Growth Index.

U-Haul’s Growth Index is compiled according to the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks arriving in a state or city, versus those departing from that state or city each calendar year across the U.S. and Canada and is a strong indicator of what kind of job states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents, according to the company.

Texas is the top destination for U-Haul trucks for the second consecutive year and the fifth time since 2016, according to the study. That is followed by Florida, which has been a top-three growth state for seven years in a row. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Idaho also saw strong growth rates in 2022, the study found.

I think I’ve posted a variation on this story just about every year I’ve published this blog…

From July 2021 to July 2022, 300,000 more people moved out of the state than moved in. New York had the largest population loss—in both percentage and absolute terms—experienced by any state during that period.

Sadly, this was both predictable and preventable.

In March 2021, a study of New York found that its already staggeringly high tax burden had worsened due to an increase in the top marginal tax rate to almost 15% for those in New York City. The study projected that the flood of people leaving would only accelerate—and it did.

Even before that study, the Empire State lost so many people that it cost New York a seat in Congress after the 2020 census. This exodus is a direct response to New York’s obscenely high taxes.

Just how bad is it? Compared with other states, New Yorkers:

• Pay the highest total tax burden and highest share of personal income (14%) in taxes.
• Endure the second-worst overall business-tax climate.
• Face the highest individual income-tax rate and income-tax collections per capita.
• Pay the second-highest state and local corporate income tax collections per capita.
• Have the fourth-highest property taxes and local sales-tax rate (on average).
• Pay the highest cigarette taxes and ninth-highest gasoline taxes.
• Pay the sixth-highest capital-stock tax rate.
• Are tied for third-highest estate-tax rate.

(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)