Manhattan Led U.S. in New Tax Filers but Lost $922 Million in Income

Manhattan recorded the largest number of new tax filers among U.S. counties between 2022 and 2023, Fox News reported, yet the borough still posted a $922 million decline in adjusted gross income. The net loss occurred as higher-earning residents departed and were replaced by lower-earning newcomers.

Queens County lost 17,109 tax filers to interstate migration, the second-largest net loss nationally. The Bronx recorded a net loss of 16,319 filers. Suffolk County and Nassau County also ranked among the ten counties with the largest outflows.

All ten counties with the biggest net losses in tax filers were located in New York or California. Fox News reported that many taxpayers leaving New York relocated to Florida and Texas. E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, said the pattern reflected taxpayers moving to states with lower income taxes.

"They're not going to Massachusetts or Illinois or California," he said. "They're going to Texas. They're going to Tennessee. " Antoni added that New York had repeatedly lost residents who felt overtaxed.

High-income households account for a disproportionate share of state income tax revenue, the report noted.