Community Corner
Would You Leave NY if You Could? Poll Says 41 Percent of New Yorkers Would
Cost of living is the most cited reason for why New Yorkers want to hit the road.
More than 40 percent of New Yorkers surveyed in a recent Gallup poll said they would leave the state if they could.
Of all 50 states surveyed, New York tied New Jersey and Massachusetts for sixth place–at 41 percent–for the highest percentage of residents who would head for another state if given the chance.
Illinois, at 50 percent, and Connecticut, at 49 percent, were No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on that list.
Here's the Theoretical Question
Gallup says it measured residents' interest in moving out of state by asking:
"Regardless of whether you will move, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move to another state, or would you rather remain in your current state?"
If you live in Montana, Hawaii and Maine, you're pretty much digging it and really wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Those three states have the fewest number of residents who would leave if they could (23 percent).
The poll dug a little deeper, too, and asked residents if they were actually planning to move out of the state sometime in the next 12 months. Of those in New York who answered yes (16 percent), here are their reasons why:
- Work/Business-related: 15%
- Family/Friends: 16%
- Weather/Location: 8%
- Quality of Life/Change: 5%
- School-related: 6%
- Cost of Living: 21%
- Taxes: 14%
If you could leave New York, would you, and why? What state would you like to move to? If not, what's keeping you here?
With reporting from Gary Jeanfaivre
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