A huge number of residents have fled the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area during the COVID-19 pandemic – more than any other region in the country, according to a sobering survey of moving companies.
United Van Line’s annual relocation survey for 2020 found that New Jersey led all states with 70 percent of the people involved in moving out of the Garden State, while only 30 percent moved in.
New York State was second with Illinois – with departures accounting for 67 percent of all moves between March and October.
Not far beyond it was neighboring Connecticut, where 63 percent of all relocations were residents leaving Nutmeg State.
But the exodus to the greater New York City metropolitan area was even worse.
In Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk, 81 percent of United Van Lines trips were outbound travel – up from 74 percent in 2019 – tied to peaks in the country with Bergen-Passaic counties across Jersey’s Hudson.
New York City was connected to Newark, NJ, one of the largest cities – with residents leaving for 72 percent of all trips, while only 28 percent were arrivals.
That was the fourth highest of all places in the country.
And that’s more than in 2019, when 62 percent of the moving company’s trips in the Big Apple were for residents leaving the state.
The provinces and cities of the metro region occupy the top five spots for fleeing residents.
Trenton was just behind Long Island and Bergen-Passaic counties – with 76 percent of all trips leaving the city.
The United Van Lines survey supports data from the US Postal Service and previous reports from moving companies showing New Yorkers moving to the exits, including from Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where residents complained of a declining quality of life.
New York lawmakers were alarmed by the exodus.
“The number of residents leaving Nassau is directly related to the county’s high real estate taxes … This poses a serious threat to our county and our region.” said Nassau County legislative presiding officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park).
A worrying problem for the state of New York-New Jersey and the municipalities is that about half of the fleeing residents were high-income tax-generating residents. The United Van Lines survey found that 49 percent of outgoing Garden State families and 45 percent of New York State families had annual incomes of $ 150,000 or more.
The report found that Idaho led the country with the greatest population influx – with arrivals accounting for 70 percent of trips – followed by South Carolina (64%), Oregon (63%), South Dakota (62%) and Arizona ( 62%). %).
In terms of metro regions, Wilmington, NC, led the country as the top destination with 79 percent of travel, followed by Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida (78%); Boise, Idaho (75%); Huntsville, Ala. (70%); and Fort Meyers-Cape Coral, Florida (69%).
The coronavirus pandemic played an outsized role in the exodus from the metro region, according to population experts and the removal company.
“The data from United Van Lines makes it clear that migration to western and southern states, a predominant pattern of recent years, will continue into 2020,” said Michael Stoll, an economist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“But,” he added, “we see that the COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt accelerated wider moving trends, including retirement driving key inbound regions, as the baby boom generation continues to reach that next stage of life.”
Eily Cummings, United Van Lines spokeswoman, said COVID-19 had a “big impact” in shifting choices last year.
“As more people experience job and lifestyle changes during the pandemic, such as remote work, we see that they have more flexibility in where they can live – many are choosing to move from urban to more rural areas,” she said.
But US census and city data also show that the Big Apple’s population began to decline before the pandemic hit the region last year.