ALBANY, N.Y. (WKBW) — The big question some are asking — what's driving New Yorkers away from the Empire State? This is what some lawmakers are demanding the state research with new data showing a steady decline in population since the pandemic began.
In fact, new census numbers show the state's population dropped by roughly 630,000 between July 2020 and July 2023. NYS was also just one of eight to report a decrease in the last year.
Dr. Phil Spinosa grew up in Western New York and graduated from college in northern New York.
"And then from there, I kind of had a choice whether I could return home to western New York, or pursue opportunities elsewhere in the us and I chose to actually move to San Francisco Bay Area," he said.
He earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and now works in the pharmaceutical industry thousands of miles from home.
"The opportunities here as far as advancement and scope of the role really, were able to...pull me out of western New York," he said.
Spinosa's urge to move out of New York is a similar story for the more than 101,000 people who left the state between July of 2022 and 2023. That number is higher than any other state.
And where are they going?
Many people in the New York City area are not going far and are moving to New Jersey while many people in Upstate New York are choosing states like Texas and Florida which saw the largest jumps in population last year. Texas added more than 473,000 while Florida added more than 365,000.
Ken Girardin with Empire Center for Public Policy said the problem is we're seeing more people move out than in.
"And that's a reflection of the lack of economic opportunity upstate, and the cost of living downstate," Giradin said, "One of the biggest drivers behind people moving, working age people at least, is where they can find employment."
The data has caught the attention of two state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle — Senator James Tedisco and Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. The two recently announced bi-partisan legislation to tackle population loss.
The legislation would create a commission on New York State out-migration. The commission — which would be made up of 13 lawmakers, three appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul — would take a year to research why people are leaving.
"I would expect this commission to look at the unique needs of the regions that we talked about looking to agriculture, energy needs, job opportunities, health care, economic development," Santabarbara said, "But I think it can help us identify some significant factors that are leading to population loss."
Santabarbara said he would like to see this bill brought up during the next session in Albany.
"Whatever the fastest track is to get this passed, I think it should be passed," he said.
