Long plagued by an exodus of its residents, New York in the past year lost nearly a quarter-million people to other states. But while an influx of foreign immigrants and a ”natural” gain from births over the past six years has offset the state’s population loss, a new Empire Center Research Bulletin based on the latest Census data shows New York has been growing at less than one-third the national rate this decade.

Authored by Empire Center for Public Policy Dirtector E.J. McMahon and Research Associate Kathryn McCall, the Research Bulletin highlights these findings:

— Roughly 12 out of every 1,000 New York residents moved elsewhere in the country between mid-2005 and mid-2006 — nearly double the overall rate of out-migration for the slow-going Northeast region.

— New York’s loss of 225,766 people to other states between 2005 and 2006 was exceeded only by out-migration totals for California and hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.

— More than 1.2 million New York residents have moved to other states since 2000 — the biggest such loss experienced by any state.

The full bulletin can be found here: https://www.empirecenter.org/pb/2007/01/migrating_new_y.php

About the Author

Tim Hoefer

Tim Hoefer is president & CEO of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Read more by Tim Hoefer

You may also like

New York’s School Districts Plan To Spend Over $37K Per Student

Cover Image Credit: / at Wikipedia School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 19, plan to spend an average of $37,033 per student, up 4.9 per Read More

It is Time to Rethink New York’s Renewable Energy Mandates

The Coalition for Safe and Reliable Energy petitioned the New York State Public Service Commission to hold a hearing to evaluate whether to temporarily suspend or modify the obligations under the Renewable Energy Program established as part of the Cli Read More

No Energy Price Relief in Hochul’s Budget—So Far

Mrs. Hochul had been warning that the state’s green energy regime, a product of the Climate Leadership Climate Protection Act, needs changes to spare New Yorkers from a self-inflicted surge in energy costs. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hochul’s 2027 Budget Read More

Overtime on State Payroll Jumps 21%

104 employees made over $500k in 2025 total annual pay. 2,450 employees were paid more than Gov. Kathy Hochul's Read More

How Pension ‘Spiking’ Drives Up Costs for New York Taxpayers

Each year, hundreds of newly retired government workers across New York garner a benefit that would be unheard-of in the private sector: pensions that exceed the salaries they received while still on the job. This is possible only because most current Read More

Four Problems with a Statewide Pied-à-Terre Tax

Soon after Governor Hochul floated the idea of a "pied-à-terre" tax in New York City, Albany Sen. Patricia Fahy  proposed to expand the concept to the rest of the state. As with H Read More

New York’s Electricity Prices 70 Percent Above the National Average

Recent data from the Energy Information Administration and Empire Center for Public Policy show New York’s average residential electricity prices at 29.99 cents per kilowatt hour. This is 70 percent higher than the U.S. average of 17.6 cents per kilowat Read More

Energy Data Bulletin April 2026

April 2026 Summary and Insights Electricity. In January 2026, New York’s average residential electricity price was 28.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). New York ranked sixth - highest among the states and 62 percent a Read More