NorthJersey.com: Census expected to prove that yes, people are fleeing NJ and NY for cheaper places to live

by David M. Zimmer

In a little more than a month, workers for the U.S. Census Bureau will start counting people nationwide for the agency’s decennial tally.

In New York and New Jersey, they are likely to find a shrinking population, as residents flee the metropolitan states and their high cost of living.

Recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates show New York and New Jersey were among 10 states that lost population between June 2018 and July 2019. New York’s estimated decrease of 76,790 residents was the nation’s highest for the second consecutive year.

In recent years, New York and New Jersey have been losing residents to other parts of the union in higher numbers than all but two states, Census records show. In addition, lower overall rates of international migration and birth are slowing population regeneration nationwide.

“Natural increase, or when the number of births is greater than the number of deaths, dropped below 1 million in 2019 for the first time in decades,” said Dr. Sandra Johnson, a demographer in the Population Division of the Census Bureau.

New York and New Jersey are among four states that have seen the largest numbers of residents leaving for other states in the last decade. California and Illinois are the others, signaling a population shift from pricey, metropolitan locales to less expensive but still economically prosperous parts of the country such as Texas, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.

Read the full report here.