Across New York, families and businesses are facing an affordability crisis that is making it increasingly difficult to live, work, and stay here. High taxes, rising energy costs, burdensome regulations and the ever-growing cost of living are pushing people to leave the state.

The data tells a troubling story. Since Governor Kathy Hochul took office in 2021, more than 1,045,000 people have left New York for other states through domestic migration. Recent data shows that in just the past year alone, New York lost more than 137,000 residents to other states, bringing the five-year total to over 1 million, one of the largest population losses in the nation.

New York is also losing it’s wealth, though the state continues to increase spending by Billions of dollars each year. IRS migration data shows that tens of thousands of high-income households are leaving, with the average income of top earners who moved out exceeding $700,000. When successful and wealthy New Yorkers leave they take their income, spending power, tax contributions, and, sometimes, businesses with them. In fact, one analysis found that more than 125,000 New Yorkers relocating to Florida alone resulted in nearly $14 billion in lost income.

At the same time, New York’s job market has changed in ways that raise serious concerns about long-term economic growth. Although the state has added jobs, much of the growth has been concentrated in a single sector- health care and social assistance. 1 in 5 New York jobs are in that sector, which pays an average salary roughly 28% below the statewide average wage. Meanwhile, New York continues to struggle to recruit doctors and nurses, particularly in rural and upstate regions, limiting access to care and increasing strain on our health care system.

Industries that have traditionally supported strong middle-class careers, including manufacturing and financial services, have steadily declined as a share of the workforce over the past few decades. For example, since the end of 2019, 158 Wall Street firms have moved their headquarters outside of New York State, citing high taxes and regulatory burdens, taking nearly $1 trillion in assets under management to states such as Florida and Texas. This same troubling trend extends to the manufacturing sector. As we all know, New York has been steadily losing manufacturing jobs since the early 1990s, with no comprehensive plan to replace those jobs. While other states have successfully grown their manufacturing base, New York continues to lag behind and has yet to recover from its pre-COVID employment levels. This is a problem that will only increase if the Legislature continues to increase corporate and income tax rates.

Not only is the state failing to create high-quality, high-wage jobs to keep up with the cost of living, it is also failing to invest in skilled trades. Careers in construction, energy, manufacturing and infrastructure offer reliable, well-paying opportunities, yet many employers report ongoing labor shortages as fewer young people enter these fields. Without a stronger pipeline, New York risks falling further behind in building the workforce it needs.

When young people graduate from our colleges and trade schools, they increasingly find other states offering better opportunities. Businesses looking to expand often choose other states with lower taxes, more affordable energy, and fewer regulatory hurdles. Retirees, even from our own state pension system, often relocate to other states where their retirement income goes much farther.

If New York wants to stop the slide it must become more competitive by reducing it’s highest-in-the-nation combined tax burden, reconsider and/or reduce regulations that constrain business growth, and prioritize cheap and affordable energy generation.

In building a better business environment, more businesses will stay, expand, and thrive, good paying job opportunities will increase, our population will increase, and New York will become a destination, the Empire State once again.

Assemblyman Andrew Molitor represents the 150th Assembly District, encompassing all of Chautauqua County. For more information on Assemblyman Molitor, please follow him on Facebook.