Taxpayers voting with their feet

December 22, 2010

"The Census numbers are one way to judge which public policies are working in the country and which aren't," The Wall Street Journal editorializes today.

The Census figures "confirm that America is a nation in constant motion, with tens of millions hopping across state lines and changing residence since 2000. And more of them are moving into conservative, market-friendly red states than into progressive, public-sector heavy blue states.

"In order the 10 states with the greatest population gains were Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Colorado and South Carolina. Their average population gain was 21%. In the fast-growing states, the average income tax rate is 4% versus 6.9% in the slowest growing states.

"The average population gain of the bottom 10 states was 2%. They include most of the states now famous for fiscal distress: Michigan, Ohio, New York, Illinois. Michigan was the one state that actually had a net loss of population in the past decade."