By the time you’ve finished reading this essay, another American will have packed up their bags, left their former state, and moved to Florida. That’s not an exaggeration (unless you’re an exceptionally fast reader) — Florida is poaching a new resident from other states every two minutes and nine seconds.
In many ways, that’s a good thing. It isn’t just the beaches and sun that leads another New Yorker to become a Floridian every 16 minutes, it’s also sound fiscal policy that enables the Sunshine State to boast no income tax and, compared to New York, relatively low property tax rates.
It’s no coincidence that the most common former residences for newly arrived Floridians are New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois — all states with well-earned reputations for drain-circling tax-and-spend policies. Taxes aren’t the only reason people move, but it’s hard to deny that there are lines at the exits of all the states known for treating their residents like tax dollar deposits to be mined at will.
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