‘Rich young professionals’ flee New York, California in droves: study

It was once the place that attracted the young and wealthy in droves, but now, they are starting to flee for a very different lifestyle.

The US states of New York, California and Illinois have lost thousands of “rich, young professionals” who have fled the Democrat-run regions for low-tax havens like Texas and Florida, according to a study.

The research conducted by SmartAsset of workers under the age of 35 who earn $US100,000 ($A160,000) per year used Internal Revenue Service data, to look at the inflow and outflow of young professionals in 2019 and 2020, New York Post reports.

New York had the largest net outflow of young professionals – 15,788, the study found. A huge 28,741 moved out of the state, while 12,953 moved in.

California saw the second-highest net outflow of young professionals. In 2019 and 2020, 28,528 left while 20,568 moved to the state, according to the study, making for a net outflow of 7960.

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Wealthy men and women are ditching New York for other parts of the country.

Illinois has also been haemorrhaging under-35 workers, the study found. It lost 9386 young professionals while gaining just 6527 – a net outflow of 2859.

Several large companies have recently announced they were moving their headquarters out of Illinois capital Chicago, citing soaring levels of crime.

Massachusetts also lost 8160 young professionals while just 6290 moved in – a net outflow of 1870.

In the District of Columbia, where the nation’s capital Washington D.C. is located, more than 4800 people left while just 2729 moved in – a net outflow of 2074.

The district also saw the largest proportion of rich young professionals move elsewhere relative to its population, according to the study.

People are turning their back on NYC in droves. Picture: Helen Hayes

Texas was the state that wealthy Millennials chose above all the others as their new home, the study found.

In 2019 and 2020, a total of 15,024 rich young professionals moved there, while 11,201 moved out, according to SmartAsset. The state saw a net inflow of 3823 – the largest of any US state.

Florida was second most popular, with a net inflow of 3411 rich, young professionals.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama also reported positive net migration figures, according to SmartAsset.

The findings of the study are consistent with a similar survey done earlier this year by Brookings Institution which found that Republican-run states such as Florida, Texas, Utah and the Carolinas recovered quicker from the pandemic than Democrat states.

The study found that GOP-run states added 341,000 jobs in the last two-and-a-half years.

During that same period, Democrat states lost some 1.3 million jobs.

Wealthy young professionals are moving to low-tax havens like Texas and Florida. Picture: Helen Hayes

The state of New York had the largest net outflow of the young professionals. Picture: Helen Hayes

Moody’s Analytics also found that in the one-year period that started in February 2021, 46 million people moved to a different ZIP code.

The states that saw the biggest gains in net migration were Florida, Texas and North Carolina — each of which voted for the Republican candidate for president in the last two election, Donald Trump.

The states that lost the biggest number of residents were California, New York and Illinois, which are all controlled by a Democratic-majority legislature and Democratic governors.

Analysts said that the migration could be explained by the closure of offices and the necessity of remote work due to the spread of coronavirus.

Before remote work, employees gravitated to where companies’ offices were located. But the pandemic gave workers the option of where to live, leading to a massive migration away from the large cities on the coast.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission