This past February, Larry Kudlow wrote:

In case you didn’t see it, Barron’s published a great story called,“Revolution on Wheels”. Basically it makes the point that taxes matter to folks in choosing where to live.

“Quietly, without banners or raised fists, they are packing up their families and belongings and moving from high tax states like California and New York to lower-tax locales like Florida, Nevada and Texas.”

Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder says over the past five years, 1.2 million people moved out of the ten highest taxed states, while an almost equal number, 1.3 million, moved into the low tax states. “It’s a stealth migration, and it’s one of the biggest, most significant yet least recognized movements of the population in American history,” says Vedder. “People are voting with their feet to say that taxes do matter.”

The Census Bureau measured domestic migration - people moving within the United States - from 1990 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2004. The report provides the number of people moving into and out of each state and the 25 largest metropolitan areas.

The states that attracted the most new residents: Florida, Arizona and Nevada. The states that lost the most: New York, California and Illinois.

Among the 25 largest metropolitan areas, 18 had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago - the three biggest metropolitan areas - lost the most residents to domestic moves. The New York metropolitan area had a net loss of more than 210,000 residents a year from 2000 to 2004.