Americans Vote With Their Feet

Star Parker
Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:03:47 -0800
Opinion

It may seem that it's impossible to get anything done in Washington these days.

Nevertheless, the free spirit of Americans cannot be suppressed.

Americans are voting with their feet.
Updated: Wed Feb 04, 2026

It may seem that it's impossible to get anything done in Washington these days.

Nevertheless, the free spirit of Americans cannot be suppressed.

Americans are voting with their feet.

Per the Census Bureau's just released annual report on population growth and migration in the U.S., Americans are packing up and moving from anti-growth blue states to pro-growth red states.

Top five in population growth from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025: South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Delaware, Tennessee.

Top five in population loss: New York, Hawaii, Alaska, District of Columbia, California.

Seven of the 10 top growth states voted for Donald Trump in 2024.

Of the top 10 states losing population over the 12-month period, nine of the 10 voted for Kamala Harris in 2024.

Those many Americans who still understand that freedom is the magic elixir that drives growth and prosperity are exiting blue states, leaving them to stew in their left-wing, socialist, low-growth and low-opportunity juices.

Americans for Tax Reform breaks it down further.

Comparing economic conditions in the states that gained population to those that lost: the marginal tax rate in population-losing states is on average 24.5% higher than in the population-gaining states; the average state and local tax collection in the population-losing states is 61% higher than in those gaining population; the average corporate tax rate in population-losing states is 44% higher than in those gaining population; and 60% of population-gaining states are right-to-work states — states that prohibit paying union dues as a condition for employment — compared to only 10% of population-losing states that are right-to-work.

The Brennan Center has analyzed what the implications of this trend, if it continues on its current track, will mean regarding distribution of congressional seats after the 2030 census.

The biggest gainers: Texas plus four seats and Florida plus three. The biggest loser: California minus four.

The Brennan Center looks at what the change will be by region in 2030 compared with 2020.

The South would pick up nine seats, Northeast would lose four, Midwest and Plains states down three, Mountain states up three, and West down five.

The Wall Street Journal estimates that this translates into a gain of 10 seats in states that voted for Trump in 2024.

The U-Haul Growth Index, published once per year and released earlier this month, reporting results for 2025, shows essentially the identical picture. U-Haul summarizes transactions for the year — some 2.5 million — reporting net in-migrations and out-migrations for all states.

Top five states for in-migration in 2025 were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Per U-Haul, "Seven of the top ten growth states currently feature Republican governors, and nine of those states went red in the last presidential election."

States with the most people leaving are California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

Per U-Haul, "Nine of the bottom 10 growth states feature Democrat governors, and seven of those states went blue in the last presidential election."

Americans for Tax Reform also notes that nine of the top 10 growth states in the U-Haul Growth Index are right-to-work states. Among the bottom 10, none are right-to-work states — all are dominated by union control.

The New York Times reports that, per New York City's Economic Development Corporation, in the second quarter of 2025, 8,400 businesses closed compared with 3,500 that opened.

New York's new socialist mayor wants to tax corporations and wealthy New Yorkers to finance the city's $12 billion budget deficit. Can there be any question what the result will be for the No. 1 population-losing state in the country?

How about California's 5% billionaire wealth tax proposal?

Punishing success is a great formula for losing the successful. Tesla, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Charles Schwab and Palantir Technologies are among the marquee corporations that have bid farewell to California.

Want to know what Americans think? Watch their feet.