People leaving NJ in droves, but one city is growing fast

A new report by U-Haul finds that more people continue to move out of New Jersey than are coming in.

An analysis finds the number of U-Haul truck rentals from other states that arrived in the Garden State last year was lower than the number of departing U-Haul trucks.

In New Jersey, rentals increased 4 percent, with departures increasing by 6 percent.

Anthony Paladino, the president of U-Haul of Northern New Jersey, said the state ranks 45th in terms of growth, according to the company's data.

He said while the migration trends in the survey do not correlate directly with population or economic growth, the data clearly shows “more people are leaving the state than moving into the state.

The highest growth states, according to the study, were Texas, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee.

James Hughes, a professor of economics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said we’ve actually seen this outmigration trend for several years.

“In many cases, it’s due to the very, very high cost of living in New Jersey, particularly for retirees,” he said.

“Homeowners can cash out of their very expensive home in New Jersey, move to North Carolina and buy an equivalent residence maybe for half the price and pay lower taxes.”

Hughes noted the estate tax in New Jersey was eliminated by lawmakers last year, but the inheritance tax remains, so “it’s still far cheaper to live in many other states compared to New Jersey.”

Paladino noted even though New Jersey is essentially a non-growth or negative growth state, “we saw Jersey City was ranked number 10 among the U-Haul Top 25 U.S. growth cities for all populations. So in certain areas there are still people moving in.”

East Orange and Passaic also were among New Jersey’s leading cities for more arrivals than departures.

The state with the lowest move-in to move-out ratio in the survey was California, followed by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts and then New Jersey.

Last year, New Jersey was ranked the number 41 growth state in the U-Haul survey.

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