New Yorkers are in a leaving state of mind.

New York saw 7.3 million more residents leave the state than moved in from other states over the last 50 years, an alarming new think tank report shows.

“Clearly we’ve been doing something wrong for a long time,” said E.J. McMahon, the co-author of the Empire Center for Public Policy report.

Some of the losses were offset by the flow of 4.8 million foreign immigrants into New York in the same five-decade period.

That still leaves a net decline of 2.5 million residents who decided to move somewhere else in the U.S. to live.

Over the last decade, the state lost 1.6 million residents to the rest of the country, the worst since the 1970s and one of the highest out-migrations in the nation.

Making matters worse, post 9/11, foreign immigration to New York dipped by 25% over the decade, reaching its lowest level since the 1960s.

Yet even with so many people leaving, New York’s overall population grew by 2 million since 1980. The report attributes that mainly to the “natural increase” of births over deaths.

Future reports will look at where the lost people went and why they left, McMahon said.

He surmises there are a host of reasons, including New York’s high taxes as well as hefty housing and business costs. A lack of good job opportunities upstate have also pushed people out, leaving an aging population.

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