CNHI NEWS: Taxes, housing, top reasons for outmigration

By Christian M. Wade, Statehouse Reporter

This article originally appeared in CNHI News on February 17, 2025

BOSTON — A new survey of former Massachusetts residents by a pro-business group found taxes and the high cost of housing were among the top reasons they fled the state.

The survey of nearly 500 former Massachusetts residents who moved to Florida or New Hampshire, conducted by Mass Opportunity Alliance, found that two-thirds, or 67.1 percent, of those relocating said Massachusetts’ high cost of living — including housing, taxes, and groceries — was a primary factor causing them to leave.

More than 70% people said they were driven out by the state tax policies, according to the survey, while nearly 84% said their current quality of life is better than it was in Massachusetts.

“Massachusetts is bleeding talent,” said Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, a co-founder of the alliance. “Our best and brightest are leaving in record numbers, driven out by skyrocketing costs and an increasingly uncompetitive tax climate.”

Those earning more than $1 million made up 3% of all Massachusetts residents relocating to Florida or New Hampshire. Anderson said that is a disproportionately large share, considering less than 1% of Massachusetts’ tax filers earn over $1 million. He cited the impact of the state’s new 4% millionaires tax.

“This isn’t just a trend — it’s a crisis,” he said. “If policymakers don’t take urgent action to make Massachusetts a more affordable and business-friendly state, we risk losing even more of our workforce, innovation, and economic strength.”

Supporters and opponents of the millionaires’ tax have been sparring over whether the two-year old law is driving businesses and wealthy households out of the state.

A recent report by the left-leaning policy group Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center says IRS data from July 2022 to July 2023 shows that Massachusetts has a lower rate of outmigration among high-income households earning $200,000 or more a year than that of low- and middle-income households.

The IRS data shows that Massachusetts added about 18,700 people to its population during that time frame, which includes a net gain from migration of 11,500 residents.

But Mass Opportunity and other critics say the group’s data is “misleading” and creates “false narratives” about the state’s outmigration demographics.

They point to IRS data showing that while high earners accounted for only 22% of the net outmigration in 2022, they were responsible for the majority, or 55%, of the net loss in taxable income.

Overall, nearly 57,000 more people moved out of Massachusetts between July 2021 and July 2022, according to previously released U.S. Census data. That’s one of the highest rates of domestic migration in the nation.

The Bay State reached a peak of 7 million residents as of the 2020 Census, but has seen its overall population shrink in the last three years by about 50,000 people.

Gov. Maura Healey and legislative leaders have focused on boosting the state’s competitiveness in response to previous reports showing an exodus of people from the state in recent years. Healey argues that a lack of housing, among other factors, is impacting the state’s ability to attract and maintain businesses and families.

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.