Governor BEGS Millionaires to Return To State

New York’s governor is begging millionaires to come home.

Story Snapshot

Kathy Hochul blames Trump’s tax law and COVID for New York’s millionaire exodus
Independent research finds millionaire migration is tiny and mostly temporary, tied to the pandemic, not tax hikes
A tug-of-war now pits “tax the rich” activists against a governor terrified of losing her tax base

How Hochul Explains The Millionaire Escape Story

Governor Kathy Hochul has settled on a simple story for why high earners left New York. She points to Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law, which capped the State and Local Tax deduction, and says it suddenly made being rich in New York far more expensive. She adds COVID as the second hit, saying wealthy people with homes in Palm Beach or other warm spots moved families out when New York City shut down and “everybody’s getting sick.”

Hochul also insists she is not the problem on state taxes. She tells interviewers she will not raise taxes on high-net-worth people or on the companies that create jobs and pay for services New Yorkers rely on. At the same time, she admits “our tax base has been eroded” and says she needs affluent residents to fund generous social programs. She even calls those who stay or return “patriotic millionaires,” trying to dress a budget problem in moral language.

What She Says Changed: Remote Work And Red State Competition

Hochul describes remote work as the breaking point for the old New York bargain. For years, if your office was in Manhattan, you were stuck in New York and would “keep paying no matter what.” Once high earners could work from anywhere, they had a door out. Hochul openly admits New York now competes with states that have “less tax burden on their businesses and individuals,” naming places like Texas and Florida.

That is where conservative critics seize the story. Commentators point to Internal Revenue Service data showing billions of dollars in income moved from New York to Florida during the pandemic, and they call that “tax migration” driven by high state and city rates. They also replay Hochul’s 2022 jab telling Republicans to “jump on a bus” to Florida, then contrast that with her 2026 plea for wealthy exiles to come back and refill the budget. From a common-sense, conservative view, you drive out wealth with hostile rhetoric and heavy taxes, then act surprised when the tax base shrinks.

The Quiet Facts: Millionaires Mostly Stayed Put

Strip away the political theater and the independent numbers tell a calmer story. Research summarized by the Fiscal Policy Institute finds millionaire migration is rare and usually not driven by state tax changes. In non-pandemic years, only about two out of every 1,000 top earners leave New York, and three out of four who do move end up in other high-tax states like New Jersey, Connecticut, or California. That does not look like a stampede to tax havens.

During COVID, there was a spike, but it tracks the pandemic timeline more than tax laws. One analysis shows the peak in millionaire departures came in 2020, when lockdowns and fear were highest. By early 2023, millionaire migration patterns had largely returned to their pre-pandemic norm. A video breakdown of national data notes that only about 0.3% of millionaires move to a lower-tax state in a year, calling tax flight “a trickle, not an exodus.” For conservatives who value hard data, that undercuts simple claims that high taxes alone emptied New York’s rich neighborhoods.

Who Is Really Leaving New York, And Why It Matters

There is another twist that almost never makes the headlines. While the number of millionaires in New York has actually grown, working-class and middle-income residents are leaving at much higher rates. Reports tie their moves not mainly to taxes but to crushing housing costs, child care, and daily living expenses. In plain terms, the state kept its millionaire tax base but lost many people who struggle to afford the basics, even as progressives demand more spending on social programs.

NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani's Tax Plan Sparks Debate as Report Warns of Wealthy Residents Leaving New York
A new report has raised concerns that New York could lose billions of dollars in tax revenue if more high-income residents leave the state, as New York City mayoral… pic.twitter.com/F8e0EP567Z

— Voice of Germany (@NewsVOG) July 16, 2026

That creates an odd political picture. On one side, activists like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani push new tax hikes on incomes over one million dollars and higher corporate taxes to fund a larger welfare state. On the other side, Hochul publicly refuses to raise those taxes, warns about competition with Florida, and begs wealthy former New Yorkers to come back and “support the generous social initiatives” she wants. Conservatives see this as regulatory capture at work: a government hooked on top-earner revenue, unwilling to cut spending, and trapped between its base’s demand to “tax the rich” and economic reality that those rich have options.

Politics, Perception, And The Real Stakes For Taxpayers

Media framing might be the most powerful force in this fight. Right-leaning outlets and YouTube channels blast headlines like “Hochul BEGGING” and “Desperate Hochul,” shaping her plea as panic and failure rather than sober fiscal management. Donald Trump joins in with posts about “New York’s tax hell” and “Florida freedom,” reinforcing the idea that blue-state policies chased away success. These narratives fit what many conservative Americans already believe: high taxes and hostile attitudes toward business drive prosperity south.

Yet the research saying tax-driven millionaire flight is small and temporary does not let Hochul off the hook. If the millionaire class is growing and still paying roughly half of New York’s personal income taxes, while the working class is fleeing high costs, then focusing on Trump and COVID misses the deeper problem. The real question for New Yorkers of any income is simple: will leaders tackle spending and cost-of-living pressures, or keep blaming “external shocks” while hoping patriotic millionaires write a bigger check every year?