US population head south and southwest

 Daily Signal:

America’s economic engine is moving south, according to a newly released analysis of IRS and census data by an organization called Unleash Prosperity.

“The single most important thing that is going on in this country, economically and demographically, is the massive shift in migration that’s happened over the last 10 to 20 years, and it is accelerating,” economist Steve Moore told attendees at the launch of Unleash Prosperity’s interactive migration website called votewithyourfeet.net.

For the previous two centuries, America’s northeastern states were the dominant region for economic production and growth, Moore said.

“You think of New York and Philadelphia and Baltimore and New Jersey, and that area was the apex of American economic and financial power, but that is no longer the case,” he said. “For the first time in history, the southeast is now the dominant region of the country in terms of production.”

Based on IRS tax reporting from 2012 to 2022 and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Unleash Prosperity’s site shows which states people are fleeing, and which states they are calling their new home. New York and California top the list of exodus states, having lost 1.7 million and 1.6 million people, respectively, over this decade. Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Louisiana, Virginia, and Connecticut round out the top 10 for negative migration.

The top states gaining population are Florida (1.6 million) and Texas (1.3 million), followed by North Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada, Washington, and Idaho. The founders of Unleash Prosperity include Moore, economist Arthur Laffer, and publishing magnate Steve Forbes.

Migration within America generally follows political lines, with red states gaining population and blue states losing, according to Unleash Prosperity data. Even with blue states that gained population, the migration is largely coming from other blue states. For example, Washington state experienced 217,304 net positive migration, but more than half that surplus, 146,280, came from California.

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Conservative states are where the growth is.  Washington state may be one exception to that migration.  The Texas economy has been robust from the energy sector and otherwise.  Florida is attracting more than just retirees.  Both Florida and Texas have strong conservative governors and legislatures who are feeding the growth.  I have lived in both states, but have been in Texas most of the time.  California has made the mistake of electing liberal politicians.  It was much stronger when Reagan was governor.