Wealthy New Yorkers fled the Empire State en masse after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out – greater than 2,000 millionaires left Manhattan, in accordance with the latest figures from the Internal Revenue Service.
Tax returns show that the variety of New Yorkers who reported an adjusted gross income over $1 million fell to 54,370 in 2020 from 55,100 in 2019 — a decrease of 1.3%.
In line with researcher EJ McMahon, Manhattan saw a fair greater net lack of millionaires in 2020, with 2,393 leaving the borough for the suburbs or going out of state – greater than 10% greater than the variety of seven-figure earners who moved in 2019. Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan think tank based in Albany.
The exodus followed disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “millionaire tax” in 2018, which raised the top rate to 9.65% from 8.82%, making New York the state with the highest taxation in the country.
“It’s ridiculous to disclaim that it isn’t one in all the key determinants,” McMahon told the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. “And that is a variable that the state government controls.”
The state’s decline in millionaires comes despite a rise in the variety of affluent earners in the country by about 10% to 608,540 from 554,340, in accordance with tax figures.
![New York saw its millionaires drop while most of the country saw seven-figure net growth, according to IRS data.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/moving-nyc-221227-63.jpg?w=1024)
New York’s share of the nation’s pool of millionaire taxpayers has fallen from 9.9% in 2019 to eight.9% in 2020 – down 12.7% since 2010. The state joins Oklahoma and Louisiana as only three states that saw an absolute decline in the variety of millionaire income tax payers in 2020
“New York’s continued decline in the nation’s millionaire income share…must be a transparent warning sign to the governor. [Kathy] Hochul and the legislature,” McMahon said.
Experts blame a confluence of things for emptying the Big Apple, including the total cost of living, lockdown policies during the pandemic, and rising crime rates.
Overall, roughly 300,000 New Yorkers left the city in 2020, taking with them about $21 billion in income.
Nassau County, which ranks second behind Manhattan in the variety of millionaires in the state, lost
![IRS data supports anecdotal and statistical findings pointing to a wealth flight from New York City during the pandemic.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/moving-nyc-221227-60.jpg?w=1024)
Other suburban areas have seen a rise in millionaires, led by Suffolk County, which incorporates the Hamptons. In 2020, there was a rise of 722, or 21%, millionaires in comparison with 2019.
The Hudson Valley also saw a net increase in the variety of affluent earners. Westchester County became home to a different 233 millionaires in 2020, while Duchess County reported an extra 147 millionaires. Dozens more millionaires have moved to Ulster, Putnam and Columbia counties in 2020.
The implications of wealth fleeing to other states will be significant from New York and the state. Reducing the tax pot could likely have a negative impact on the funding of key public services similar to schools, mass transit and police and fire services.
![New York, California and Illinois have all lost residents during the pandemic, according to the data.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/moving-nyc-221227-58.jpg?w=1024)
McMahon cited state figures that show the top 1% of New York earners who report income of no less than $655,835 — and have lived in the state for a full 12 months — have paid 46% of state income taxes as of 2020.
It wasn’t nearly the flight of top earners. In line with IRS data, in 2020 the variety of New Yorkers who earned between half and 1,000,000 dollars fell by 2,600 taxpayers, or 2.8%.
The trend was at odds with national figures, which showed 67,290 taxpayers on this pay bracket in 2020 – a rise of 5.8% from 2019. The one other states to lose taxpayers in the 500,000 to 1 million range dollars in 2020 were Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
Florida was one in all the biggest beneficiaries of the escape from the New York saga – together with other Sun Belt locations like Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. Sunshine State is poised to displace New York as the nation’s second-millionaire country, behind California in first place.
“With 53,190 millionaires in 2020, reflecting a 170% increase over the last 10 years, Florida got here near displacing New York as the state with the second largest population in that category,” McMahon said.
![Experts cite the high cost of living in New York City as the reason for the population shift.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/apartments-nyc-00.jpg?w=1024)
McMahon’s findings offer a positive side to New York. Empire State millionaire taxpayers reported that their 2020 adjusted gross income was up about 10% over the previous 12 months.
Notably, the variety of part-time New Yorkers earning greater than $1 million in 2020 has increased – Florida has the largest share of non-resident lineups, in accordance with McMahon.
In line with McMahon, in 2020, 7,218 Florida residents owed Albany taxes – up from 6,471 in 2019.