Before the 2008 economic crash, New Jersey had the highest population losses (because of migration to other states) since the 1980s, peaking in 2006 with a net loss of more than 27,000 taxpayers. The recession slowed the exodus, which bottomed out at 13,000 taxpayers in 2009, but was back up to 20,000 by 2013, according to migration data from the IRS. And it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon.
People are fleeing the climate and congestion, but they’re also leaving because of high property taxes, inheritance taxes, income taxes and business taxes, said James Hughes, economics professor and dean of the Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.