New IRS data are putting numbers behind a trend conservatives have warned about for years: high-tax, Democrat-run states are hemorrhaging taxpayers to lower-tax rivals.
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The figures, drawn from federal tax returns, show the 10 counties with the largest net losses of taxpayers to other states were all in California or New York, reshaping state tax bases and local economies as families chase lower taxes and cheaper living.
Los Angeles County topped the list, shedding a net 17,496 tax filers who carried nearly $1.9 billion in income out of state. Queens County, New York, followed at 17,109, then the Bronx at 16,319, Orange County, California, at 11,618, and Suffolk County, New York, at 10,434.
Manhattan was the lone exception for New York, drawing more new interstate taxpayers than any county in the country. But the borough still lost nearly $1 billion in adjusted gross income overall, a sign newcomers earned far less than those who left.
Heritage Foundation chief economist E.J. Antoni said the pattern reflects a simple truth about how Americans respond to being taxed heavily.
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“It’s very, very clear that people ultimately vote with their feet and when they feel like they’re getting taxed too much, they go somewhere else where they will be taxed less,” Antoni told Fox News Digital.
“If you look at where these people are going, they’re not going to Massachusetts or Illinois or California,” he said. “They’re going to Texas. They’re going to Tennessee. They’re going to Florida — places with low or no income taxes and low overall levels of taxation.”
Rounding out the top 10 losses: San Diego County, California, at 9,401; Nassau County, New York, at 9,130; Riverside County, California, at 8,968; San Bernardino County, California, at 8,462; and Kings County, New York, at 6,924.
Meanwhile, the biggest gainers of new residents were Maricopa County, Arizona, up 9,353; Harris County, Texas, up 8,955; King County, Washington, up 8,297; and Clark County, Nevada, up 7,524 — largely low-tax jurisdictions drawing relocating families and businesses.
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