Why are people moving out of Massachusetts? 

Have you left Massachusetts? Tell us why:

I worked in this state for 20 years, I applied for unemployment this year for the first time ever I get $0. Yeah I won't be staying around. That's how much you care about me when I needed help.

I left. Look, MA is fine and dandy...IF your income is well over $100,000 a year. Otherwise, it will take every penny you have, to maintain an existence in your station in life. Never getting ahead, and slowly falling behind. How long will this be sustainable, only time will tell.

I’m leaving Done with Massachusetts . Been here my whole life. It’s not housing or work It’s the fact that Massachusetts Is moving in illegal immigrants ! This taxpayer is moving.

I’m glad the comments were allowed. It’s the policies. Massachusetts is a beautiful state with a fantastic school system, but the politics are ruining everything. We have no options.

High cost of living and no rent control democrats cities are failing

I am from MA. It's a democratic state. The democratic party is not what it once was, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." The liberal agenda is causing much decline but not as bad as CA and NY yet. Thanks mayor Wu for adding all those additional Christmas trees around downtown crossing this past Christmas to cover up all the vacant store fronts. What exceptional leadership. Thank you to the Brookline couple who took in the illegal family into their home. Let's see how that works out once they get used to Brookline and refuse to leave. Thank you, city of Boston for that "wonderful" MLK and wife hands million dollar statue on the common. Looks more like something from a 1970's Penthouse Magazine. Again, mayor Wu, thank you for supporting the businesses on Hanover Street. Imagine the "increase" in customers they will be receiving this summer. Oh, and thank you Governor Healy, it will be so nice having an illegal alien shelter near the Childrens Museum in South Boston if it opens with my tax dollars. Parents will be so pleased about taking their kids there this summer.

Left in 2007 moved to NH. I left because it is Extremely expensive to live there. The amount of taxes you pay isn't worth it. It has crumbling infastructure. Violent crime is out of control. Massachusetts is for Rich liberals. I live a far better life now in NH with no sales tax and no income tax. I make slightly more money per hour in NH. My family feels safer. Never will I return to that 3rd world state.

My daughter and son-in-law and daughters move back to Massachusetts because they were living in Wilmington North Carolina where the rents were outrageous they found a more affordable rent in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is one of the worst states to live in. Too expensive, too many people, too many taxes, terrible politicians and the worst maintained roads in new england

Totally agree, housing problem is incredibly insane. My rent went from $2400 in 2022 to $3200 this year for a 500sq one bed room in Fenway and even I paid that much, I don’t have my own laundry. Moreover, a month broker fee is required for most cases.

All this migration to the South is making life more expensive here. (Fl for example).

You now have to be rich or poor to live in Boston/Greater Boston. Some low income/meager savings people are provided affordable housing in Cambridge or Brookline within walking distance near the T, some in nice updated units, some get great deals on condos with garage parking spaces. People who bought property 20 years ago or who make $200K+ in biotech are also doing just fine. It's the people who scrimped/saved, lived beneath their means and have more than 75K to their names who cannot afford to rent or buy in these cities. I know someone who in 2021 qualified for a Cambridge condo with garage parking for $320K, the market rate was $625K for the same condo. After moving in she got a higher paying job. Anyone with 75K in the bank would not qualify. If you have more than 75K to your name, you are considered too rich for affordable housing. I met a waitress recently who was paying $2500 for a 1 BR in Lynn. More and more people will leave the state if this greed continues.

The housing is very expensive and the taxes are a killer.

Mass resident, parent, homeowner. We had multiple then young couple friends move out of Massachusetts about 15-20 years ago, but every one has moved back after a first home, having kids, and wanting to bring them up here. There is a shortage of desirable first homes in this state and that is a real problem, but people (not all) do move back once they have some ways to do so.

is this guy serious? low income in Mass mean you get rental assistance and other welfare. That means you probably make more than someone who has a good job.

40 work weeks for most available jobs here for a month, do not cover 1 bedroom Apartments rents, life/home/auto insurances, food, utilities, and basic needs like cell use. It is practically unaffordable if you make less than 70 k a year, and even if you do somehow. You will live paycheck to paycheck. They double property taxes every 20 years and price people out of surviving with ease.

If you move remember exactly why you moved and what political party is the majority in MA.

Politicians

The real issue with Massachusetts is the politics, the economy is only tech and life science, taxes, nobody cares about the middle income, illegal immigrants and too many minorities, etc. However people think by moving out of state that all their problems will be solved, everyone thinks where they will live is going to be affordable but eventually there new place where they migrated to will become expensive due to people moving there. The national average for a house in all 50 states is greater than 600k its not just Massachusetts. There is no way out of this.

haven’t left yet but inevitably will push me out due to hosing to income ratios not keeping balancing out at all NIMBY politics shutting down large chunks of new housing opportunities (easier to flee than to fix this) state prioritizes building triple the office space over housing in the city mbta is still too inconsistent and costly vs driving in most areas everything closes WAY too early for the mid 20s crowd what is the point of these great universities and employers if you can’t enjoy them? how are these groups supposed to thrive and grow if their nightlife ends super early and they’re spending large chunks of their income just on housing itself?

I looked at living in Massachusetts after college. It needs to be less expensive.

My whole family lives out of state. Just waiting for my boys to finish their USMC commitments

Too much taxes, very expensive, so little in return, potholes everywhere. No place to park.

Good. Real estate agents need more inventory.

Over the past 50 years, much of my immediate family left MA for FL: 1975 Grandparents. 1980 Father. 1985 brother. 1990 myself. 2000 mother. 20010 Aunt. 2024 brother.

High income taxes high property taxes is the reason

Unfortunately, it’s way too expensive here. 😢

I don't blame them

MA has one of the worst estate taxes out there. That’s why many People over 65 are leaving. Pretty simple actually- what you tax you get less of

When I look at deep blue states (MA, IL, NY, CA) I see the same things high taxes, high cost of living, high crime, poor quality of life. Now add illegal aliens pouring in. I read that illegal aliens stay in shelters in MA for an average of over a year. Shelters are temporary housing meant as transitional housing for weeks, not months or years. I never before heard of people staying in shelters for over a year. MA like other deep blue states has become unaffordable even for people working 2 jobs. The man interviewed and his partner were working 4 jobs and could not afford to stay in MA.

I moved back after living away for 23 years. I moved back to be closer to family and because I’ve lived in other states where rights are being taken away.

The quality of journalism and presentation style in USA is so dismal.

Why aren't they talking better about the price of the damn rent, which is getting worse and worse?

Good Sign to say Massachusetts Growing.

I used to work for a company based in Massachusetts. They had wonderful benefits for everyone regardless of where you live. Build more homes with less red tape. Just be glad New York is more popular for migrants and you don't live near a porous border. Older folks are on fixed income so if you want them to rent out their homes then let them evict squatters and deadbeats instantly.

hi taxes hi regs hi crime lo SOL ''YA GOTTA ASK?'' first job in ''83 after uni. had roomies, no biggie moved back to ohio after 6 months. 2 muggings, a car break in and total lack of interest from the ''judicial system''. from what i read, nothing has changed...

Why you ask? Very simple. Housing shortage and high rents and nobody is doing anything about it Immigrants flooding everywhere High taxes and fees on everything Drugs and homeless everywhere Broken roads and traffic Housing is the #1 issue

The governor has to expand the economy in MA to include the central and western parts of the state where there is some affordable housing. Also, the Mayors and Governor on the eastern side of the state have to stop catering to landlords and big money developers.

Too expensive to live in MA, most people live on paycheck by paycheck because rent is too high, food, insurance, etc.

My wife and 3 kids are native Massholes. I’m not a native but we lived there for two decades and moved in 2007 for Georgia and haven’t looked back. Cost of living, taxes, weather, nanny state leftists, and on and on. Georgia also respects my 2nd amendment rights.

Wealthy and working class are probably leaving lowering tax base.

Simple: Taxachusetts!

Please leave more and sooner! I need an affordable place to live here! And there’s nothing!!

Cost of living and pricing everyone away from Boston. Including Massachusetts shorelines where residents will have no choice but to move inland (central and western Massachusetts) or into drug and crime infested areas (shoreline and inland). People are better off leaving for a better cities out of state.

"what do we see are main *like* reasons people are leaving" Expert "people leave Massachusetts for a lot of reasons..." Great interview guys keep up the hard hitting journalism

Too crowded too expensive

Better yet, why don’t Mass residents STAY in their state?? You cannot drive in any direction around Mass and not feel like you’ve accidentally crossed the state line into MA? It’s sad, they love their state so much but won’t stay in it.

I lived in MA until I was 30, then moved to CO, now settled in the desert of SoCal. MA is an absolutely miserable place, the weather is horrific, everything is so old, and it really is just a manic raging place. Whoever thought the most success financially and in home ownership, the highest salary and the most stability would be California!?! Yes the cheaper desert, but that speaks loud for a tiny state like MA. I've never went back and never will! 🙌🏾

Come to Georgia! But please leave your MA policies behind, thanks.

Our government is corrupt 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂we have a Chinese spy for a mayor 😅😅😅

When my parents came to the US, the plan wasn't for me to be an indirect system where I just work, spend, and own nothing. Ever. Even if I made the beloved 100k, most of that money is going to rent, car payments and maintenance (god forbid you take the train to avoid these costs and compete for a job). I don't want to live a life where I just work and spend. I want to have a family. Afford my own space where I can actually have a pet. Save for the day that jobs will start not hiring me because I'm too old. Save for the rainy day. Maybe buy my future kid a starter car and help them in school. If you come from "generational wealth" you can afford to care about "the SCHOOLS, THE MUSEUMS, THE MOST EDUCATED SOCIETY IN THE WORLD!" bullshit but I want to not just constatly be in survival mode because I don't have that. Neither does most of the planet. The way so many of the locals here talk about the white collar workers being fine and dandy. Yep, until they won't find young, gullible idiots willing to work the country clubs or daycare centers. Oh wait that's why we have the colleges! To supply an endless supply of fresh, posh money idiots wanting designer education willing to wipe the butts of the american elite. Yay. I'm also sick of not seeing more people that look like me in success. I'm hispanic and it's a bit disconcerting to be looked at and treated as a "bimbo" by many of the locals. There's a certain ignorance an education and growing up sheltered clearly doesn't shake off. For the asking prices this place asks I'm taking my Nursing degree to NYC or Chicago. NC if I want the suburban experience. At least NYC or Chicago habe entertainment, happier, more welcoming locals. Some people don't get stared as anomalies when they enter certain establishments or show up to buy. People lookjng down their nose at others just because they forget they habe society set for them as opposed to having actually worked for it. If you're not going to build or provide entertainment as a way to raise their prices, fine. Don't be surprised by people bored for not willing to splurge, to get nothing. Oh wait we get the fancy college association, work with the "world's most pompous (I mean talented), work under some something something something the number who owns a zillion streetnamehmpllc's. Ugh, so prestigious! The state forgot people work to live not live to work. I suppose if it's of any small comfort, MA can pride itself in indeed being the "most american of states". The goal was to make a society of Norman Rockwell paintings and instead it is turning out like the George Carlin "American Dream" joke; You really have to be asleep or have no life to believe it. I'm jumping off this ship. I grew up here. Decided to travel to the 50 states and other countries to explore. Get a sense of things. Yes, MA is great, not eden; but it's seriously not accounting for the reality that most people will not and cannot be rich. That's ok. Let it become a nation of the wealthy hypocrites, if that's their dream, that's fair. I for one know damned well I'm never getting there. So why delude myself into investing for literally nothing I have a place in?

Please do NOT come to Florida. We are full

Expensive, elitist, dirty, old, cold, no public transit after midnight, no nightlife, horrible traffic, bans on natural gas, sky high taxes, poor school system, terrible hospitals, What did I miss???

Don't move to NC, the state is full.

Much more than just housing , Aggressive driving , the smell of pot wafting through the air now, the snow and ice , lunatic left wing politics. All combine to make it not a nice place to live , the casinos will also prove to have a damaging effect over time. I miss my nuclear family. but I’m not sure I could ever move back. Work life balance is worth more than money.

Please don’t move south like this guy without considering why you are forced to leave Massachusetts. The cost of housing being prohibitive didn’t happen spontaneously. It’s exactly the politics that made you hesitant to move to NC that make NC affordable versus MA. If you’re too ignorant to understand, politics have economic consequences, keep your destructive policies and your multiple job lifestyle in Boston. Please don’t ‘colonize’ us and bring your junk politics with you so we can no longer afford housing, either!! So elitist. Gross.

Rents are the Same as Silicone Vally Now .... and the Weatha. is much Betta. out thaaair.....