Understanding New York’s Population & Migration Trends

The rate at which people are choosing to move to—or away from—an area is among the most reliable indicators of a region’s economic health. Since 2010, New York has lost 1.2 million residents to other states. The state’s recent fall from third to fourth place in national population rankings, behind California, Texas and Florida, followed a half-century pattern of domestic migration, with more people leaving for other states than arriving from them.

The Empire Center has been at the forefront in examining these trends, finding most recently that the recent estimated decline in the state’s population was the result of a population decrease in upstate that exceeded downstate growth. Below is a select list of the Empire Center’s work in the area of population and migration.

• New Yorkers Keep Heading For Exits – Research & Data – March 2018
• Upstate, downstate flatlining in latest population estimates – Research & Data – March 2018
• New York Outmigration Tops 1 million – Research & Data – December 2017
• The (continued) graying of NY, NYTorch post, June 2017
• The Graying of the Empire State – Research Bulletin, Aug. 2012
• Empire State’s Half-Century Exodus – Research Bulletin, Aug. 2011
• Empire State Exodus – Research Bulletin, Oct. 2009