Why Americans Are Leaving These High Taxed States

[00:00:01][music] >> You know, it's incredible the conversations that you can have with complete strangers poolside when you're out on vacation. And for someone like me who reports on all the kinds of differences that there are among the various states across the country, such conversations can be actually pretty eye-opening. Welcome back to the states.

[00:00:23]I'm Greg Bishop. I was off all of next week as you may have noticed. Ended up going down to Florida to hang out with a long-time friend. Now, we went all the way down to the end of the road to Key West. We stayed right near Duval Street in an historic mansion.

[00:00:41]I'm told Duval Street's very much like New Orleans during Mardi Gras but a little bit cleaner. Uh haven't been in that type of atmosphere quite yet before. It was rather intriguing, but with it being as hot as it was down there, it was off-season. There was plenty of time to relax by the pool in that hot blazing sun. And there, I had several conversations with complete strangers and was quite intrigued.

[00:01:06]Especially with those who have lived in different parts of the country because of work. Now, before we get into some of the nuance of the conversations that I had had, let's look at at least one comparison when we compare different states. A ballot measure is in front of Missouri voters next month that can actually give some Illinois residents in the Metro East area of St. Louis a reason to move across the Mississippi River if Missouri voters pass this measure.

[00:01:36]Now, at Center Square Illinois reporter Shawn Reed reports the measure, which will be present on ballots in Missouri's primary election August 4th, poses an amendments to the Missouri Constitution that could phase out income tax entirely.

[00:01:53]Andrew Wilford, director of state policy at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation explained the ballot measure would allow the state legislature to essentially eliminate income tax by raising other revenue sources, such as an increase in the sales tax. The senior director of fiscal and economic analysis for the Illinois Policy Institute, Bryce Hill, he noted that there's a larger trend about, and Missouri is following other states in reducing, flattening, or straight-up eliminating income taxes.

[00:02:25]Now, Hill said the proposed cut could exacerbate out-migration across the Mississippi River. He noted a net 7,500 Illinoisans moved to Missouri in 2024.

[00:02:37]And if the measure's approved by Missouri voters, Illinois' second-largest metropolitan area, the Metro East, just outside of St. Louis, it could see some residents move. Now, according to polling by YouGov and St. Louis University back in February, this ballot measure could narrowly pass if the electorate votes along the lines of their findings that 52% of voters in the state would prefer that Missouri state government rely on sales taxes over individual income taxes.

[00:03:08]Now, some economists are saying that Missouri's legislature's planning on phasing out the tax in a way that'll be visible to residents and on both sides of that Missouri-Illinois border.

[00:03:19]And they also note residents of Illinois who work in Missouri, they would have to pay income taxes to Illinois even if Missouri residents vote to do away with the Missouri income tax, while also facing increased sales taxes in transactions when they're across the river.

[00:03:35]Now, if Missouri ends their income tax, they'll join several other states with no income tax. States with no income tax include Alaska, where I was just at this past week down in Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

[00:03:55]Now, there are 15 states that have a flat income tax, where they charge the same rate regardless of what your income is. The rest of the states have some kind of graduated or progressive income tax with different brackets for the different types of income individuals may have. But, it's not just the income tax or the property taxes that may sway someone as to where they call home. Now, while I was in Florida this past week, having conversations poolside underneath that blazing Key West sun, a husband and wife I talked with were originally from Illinois. They said when they got into their profession, they decided to leave Illinois and head to Florida.

[00:04:40]A main driver, they said, the cost of living and public safety.

[00:04:45]But, they eventually landed in Texas.

[00:04:48]And I asked, "Well, Florida's got no income tax. Texas has no income tax.

[00:04:53]Florida's getting ready to go about trying to get it get away with not having property tax. How is that going to play out? Is Texas doing something similar?"

[00:05:03]Well, the husband in this conversation I had said that the conditions in Texas for his line of work in the auto body industry were much better. He said there's a whole bunch of nuance to it, but things like insurance reimbursements or other state government policies Florida may have in place makes it more burdensome than what Texas has in place, therefore making Texas more attractive for his profession.

[00:05:34]So, it's interesting. Even though we look at some of the surface-level things like income tax rates, no income tax, property taxes, gas taxes, when you really get in down to some of the other nuanced issues, you can see there are some very minute things people in impacting their industries. They'll decide as to whether or not they're going to move to a state or move away from a state based off of those particulars.

[00:06:00]So have you recently moved to another state?

[00:06:03]What were some of the factors driving you and your family to find greener pastures? Be sure to leave a comment below.

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