Oceans, mountains, sunshine and Hollywood are not enough to keep people from fleeing California these days. Higher taxes, energy costs, and housing costs make it just too tough to get ahead in the Golden State.
In fact, the IRS recently released its annual data on the migration of taxpayers and total adjusted gross income leaving or going to all 50 states. California lost $23.8 billion dollars of income! It’s no wonder since the state’s top tax rate for middle income earners is 9.3%.
Electricity costs two to three times as much, and gasoline costs $1 to $2 more in California.
Guess where all that income is going? You guessed it – Florida received $36 billion, Texas received $10 billion, and Tennessee received $4.7 billion. And you know what? They are all no-income tax states!
It doesn’t take a master’s degree, which I do have, to figure out that Americans, buffeted by enormous inflation, will flock to where taxes are lower, gasoline is cheaper, and electricity bills are lower.
Some Californians are making their way to Oklahoma, thanks to the pro-growth policies of Governor Kevin Stitt. We recently ranked no. 12 in the country in positive migration.
But the stark difference between higher tax and big government states like California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey versus low-tax and limited government states like Oklahoma present an amazing opportunity for job and population growth over the next ten years.
We hope state leaders will pursue real tax reform and pro-growth strategies that will lift income and wages sufficiently higher than inflation. We’d be super happy to welcome more exhausted, hard-working Americans eager to leave the Golden State for the Sooner State!
Comentários