Why New Yorkers Want to Leave

New York, New York. America's most populous city, a hub of business and leisure, with millions flocking to visit from all over the world every year. But for all its attractions, New Yorkers are fed up, with more than a third considering packing up and leaving for good, according to a new poll.

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A survey conducted exclusively for Newsweek shows that despite its attractions, a large chunk of New Yorkers are not too keen on remaining in the city, setting their sights on pastures new. Polling conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, surveying 974 eligible New York voters between May 12 and 14, found that 34 percent were actively considering leaving the city. A further 32 percent said they were open to the idea of moving away, but not currently actively considering it.

The majority—68 percent—said they would want to move because of dissatisfaction with the quality of life in country's biggest city, with nearly half saying they would be most likely to move within the northeastern U.S. The area least attractive to wannabe ex-New Yorkers was the Midwest, with only five percent desiring a move there. Seven percent said they would forgo the U.S. altogether and move abroad.

New York has been no stranger to losing residents in recent years, even after a small population boom in the 2010s. In the decade leading up to the pandemic, from 2010 to 2020, the city's population increased by 7.7 percent, surpassing the national growth rate of 7.4 percent. The addition of 629,057 new New Yorkers during this period exceeded the entire population of Miami, which stood at 442,241 in 2020, according to the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

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But now, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that New York experienced a 6.2 percent decline in its population between April 2020 and July 2023. What's more, the city lost more than 100,000 residents between July 2022 and July 2023. So why are so many New Yorkers leaving, or at least considering it?

Why Is New York Losing Residents?

For those planning to make the move, quality of life was cited as the biggest issue. The polling also found that moving for family (41 percent) and career (36 percent) were also among the most important factors.

"In the pandemic's wake, we see an altered population and it raises long-standing concerns about the cost of living, the growing wealth gap, the need to preserve a strong middle class, and the challenges of serving an aging population, while ensuring that families are able to raise their children here," New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in January this year.

The surging cost of living in America's major cities has held some back from achieving important milestones, like starting a family or buying a home. The poll found that 41 percent of New Yorkers believed living in the Big Apple was "much more" expensive than anywhere else. It also found that 43 percent of current New Yorkers surveyed were very concerned about their ability to afford living in New York, with a further 30 percent indicating they were fairly concerned.

The results are hardly surprising. According to RentCafe, the cost of living is 27 percent higher in the city than the national average. Utilities, transport, health care, food, goods and services are all more expensive in New York with the price of housing 80 percent higher than the national average.

Costs and the desire for a different pace of life have already driven lifelong New Yorkers out of the city.

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"I left my beloved hometown of Brooklyn primarily to become a first-time homeowner in Tulsa, Oklahoma" Tariqua Nehisi, a New York native who quit the city in February 2023, told Newsweek.

Prior to her move, she had struggled to get on the property ladder. Coupled with losing her job while closing on a New York home, she initially decided she would like to divide her time between her home city and Tulsa.

"I'd saved for three years and had seven certifications from first-time homebuyer programs, from local community based organizations, to support my homebuying process," she said.

Nehisi said that the loss of her apartment "left a visceral pain associated with homebuying" in New York, but she felt "the promise and opportunity to do it again" in Tulsa. Several years later, and during the coronavirus pandemic, she put in an application to Tulsa Remote, a program that provides grants to remote workers wanting to move to the city to create a "thriving remote work community."

Nehisi eventually left Brooklyn in 2023 with the intention of dividing her time between New York and Tulsa "to live a dual big city and small city lifestyle," but ultimately made Oklahoma her only residence. She cited the buzzing "tech scene" and "lower cost of living" as two of the reasons why she decided to make the big move. And by all accounts, it seems to be treating her well, providing her with a new home where she has been able to run her consulting firm, ORGANIZELY, which employs 12 people.

Coronavirus aftereffects

It would be remiss not to draw attention the coronavirus pandemic, which brought about unforeseen and major changes throughout America, with the aftereffects still being felt four years after major restrictions were placed on American life. Not only did it have profound personal, economic and sociological effects, it also spurred on big demographic shifts and attitude changes, particularly when it comes to work. For many workers, primarily non-manual workers who would have once been in an office five days per week, working from has become either a part-time or full-time reality.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people primarily working from home tripled from before the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 to 2021. This home-working boom is a huge factor in why people want to move away from New York, according to Sajag Patel, chief revenue officer at Move Concierge.

"The truth is that the ability to work from home is driving many to move away from big cities," Patel told Newsweek. "We are seeing it in our relocation home services and from our real estate agent partners: people care more about stable internet and office space. New York living often doesn't include a separate office to work in quiet."

So, where are most people moving to when they leave New York? While polling data indicates that many who are desiring a big move are planning on staying within the north east, Patel says many are looking for a quieter place to settle down much further away—just like Nehisi.

Patel said that many are looking for new lives outside of metropolitan hubs.

"The smaller the town, the better," he said. "Populations with less than half a million people are the go-to destinations for most people leaving big cities. For example, according to data from the Census Bureau, Martinsville in Virginia, once the poorest area, is seeing a recent surge in wage growth due to the relocation of city dwellers living off remote jobs with higher-paying wages."