Are More Working-Class Residents Leaving New York City Than Wealthy Residents?

Working-class New Yorkers are leaving New York City at significantly higher rates than wealthy residents.

According to research by the Fiscal Policy Institute, affordability concerns — especially housing and the cost of raising a family — are major drivers of population loss in New York state. The report notes that 90 percent of this loss comes from New York City, with Black and Hispanic residents, households with young children, and low- to middle-income families most likely to leave.

In contrast, wealthy New Yorkers have left the state at much lower rates, with the exception of a temporary surge in their migration rates in 2020 and 2021 that was likely induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. In typical years, the average New Yorker has been four times more likely to leave the state than the top 1 percent of earners.