Metro

Taxes trigger a Texodus in New York

The Lone Star State is scooping up more than just our congressional seats — some $846 million in personal income shifted from New York to Texas in an eight-year period during the last decade, according to an analysis of IRS tax returns.

Texas, which has no state or local income taxes and an enviably low cost of living, has been steadily poaching New Yorkers since the ’90s, according to data from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research organization based in Washington.

From 2000 to 2008, more than $846 million in personal income moved from New York to Texas — with more than $212 million leaving in 2006 and ’07.

New York lost an estimated $38.4 billion in personal income to other states in that same time period, while Texas gained roughly $12.2 billion from migration.

Texas was the big winner in the 2010 Census, which was announced last week. It picked up four House seats, more than any other state.

The fading Empire State came up short and lost two seats thanks to its sluggish population growth of 2.1 percent, compared with the national average of 9.7 percent.

“People aren’t moving down to those Sunbelt states for the weather,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State.

“It’s three things: taxes, taxes and taxes.”

Heavily taxed New Yorkers pay on average 11.7 percent of their income to state and local taxes, according to data from the Tax Foundation. By contrast, Texans pay only 8.4 percent of their income in local and state taxes.