Will the last person to leave New Jersey please turn out the lights?
The population of the Garden State is shrinking, as productive taxpayers move out, replaced by a smaller number of low-income immigrants.
More than 200,000 Residents Left New Jersey last year, new Census data shows.
The state lost 17,000 more people than it gained back, as residents left for other states and overseas, according to the 2015 American Community Survey. The loss could signal potential future issues with its population and economy.
New Jersey residents — 227,000 of them — abandoned the state ranked dead last in income growth last year, and with the highest property taxes.
Most of what the state gained back came from foreign immigration, which netted the state 62,000 new residents last year. Earlier data suggests that many of those immigrants come from Asia, as the region accounted for 45 percent of new foreign migrants in 2014.
Most of our refugees ended up in Pennsylvania, Florida, California, North Carolina, and Texas. Which says to me, if you're leaving NJ for Kookyfornia, well, things here must be pretty bad. Those nuts just banned plastic grocery bags, and they don't have any water. Yet almost 13,000 people thought it was a better place to live than our not so fair state.
But those other states, they have vibrant economies. Us? We've got Chris Christie back, seeing as how his audition for Donald Trump's cabinet didn't go exactly as planned. Color me underwhelmed. He doesn't want to be here, and frankly, we don't want him to be here either.
Except, the only thing worse than a Governor Chris Christie is limousine liberal Phil Murphy, or God forbid John Wisniewski. Yet they're the front-runners to succeed Governor Gas Tax, who is inexplicably doing everything he can to torpedo the candidacy of Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.
Once upon a time our state slogan was "New Jersey and You, Perfect
Together." Now it's "Get Out While The Getting Is Good."
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