Do They Know Something I Don't?

Whites are leaving New Jersey faster than every other state in the country except Massachusetts and North Dakota. That's according to new census data about population shifts thus far this decade. But it's not just whites leaving, as the population in the state is remaining stagnant or even declining versus the rest of the country

Demographers have noted that the state recently experienced an uptick in "outmigration," which is when the number of people leaving the state exceeds the number moving in.

The main reasons are the state's relatively flat economy combined with an ever-increasing cost of living, experts say. While New Jersey remains the nation's highest income state, there has been little growth in good-paying jobs, and residents are feeling the burden of high housing costs and taxes more than ever.

The new Census data are "really linked to the outmigration patterns of the state, and it shows that they are predominantly white non-Hispanics who are moving out," said James W. Hughes, dean of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

"New Jersey has a lot going for it, but what it doesn't have going for it are the high taxes and the high cost of living," he said.

What does this mean? Fewer representatives in the House of Representatives when the next census is taken, which means less power for the state to wield in national politics.

High taxes are breaking the state, and forcing the state to raise taxes even high to cover the increased spending that Trenton continues to push. Enlighten NJ has a bunch of postings about the number of state workers increasing even as the state's population is declining, and the costs are going up even faster.