We always hear about people leaving New York State, but there are still areas that growing. A-Z-Animals conducted a study about the fastest growing towns in New York State. Their data shows that not all towns in New York are shrinking. There are a lot of reasons New York's population is shrinking - climate, taxes, cost of living, politics, etc. But, it's not all bad. There are still places in the state that are actually seeing population growth.

Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash
Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash
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In 2020 New York State had a population of 20,201,230. Even though there was a population decrease from 2020 to 2022, these are the top 3 towns that had growth during that time.

3. Oneonta

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The city’s population was 13,081 people in 2020, and it rose to 15,518 residents in 2022. A total of 2,437 people moved into the city limits.

2. New Rochelle

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Google Maps
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New Rochelle had a population of 79,734 people in 2020. The population increased by 2,554 people between 2020 and 2022, so 82,288 people now live in the city.

1. Kiryas Joel

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A total of 6,048 people moved into this part of the state over the last two years, a population increase of 18.35%! In 2020, Kiryas Joel had 32,950 residents.

You can see the full list here.

Photo by Michal Balog on Unsplash
Photo by Michal Balog on Unsplash
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New York State Is Among The Top 5 States People Are Moving Away From

According to a 2022 report, many New Yorkers are making a great escape from the Empire State. MoneyWise released data that says residents of New York State are leaving in greater numbers than new people are moving into the state.

MoneyWise says that outbound moves are at 63.1 percent in New York State. According to the data MoneyWise used, the main two reasons people gave for leaving are to be closer to family (29.4%) and retirement (29%). MoneyWise quoted Steven Haddock on Quora, who makes a pretty good point,

Most of New York State’s population can be found in the New York City area and, frankly, there’s no more room … The other population centers in New York are suffering from a combination of urban sprawl and a hollow industrial base. Buffalo, for example, has been losing population since 1950 and the growth of the metro area hasn’t kept pace.

The only other two states that beat out New York when it comes to having the most people leaving are Illinois, which was number 2, and New Jersey, which topped the list.

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The Top 6 Reasons Why New Yorkers Are Moving Out

Why are so many New Yorkers leaving the state? It has been a popular discussion over the last few years, and an issue that was even addressed recently by Governor Hochul as one we the state needs to fix. The pandemic has certainly influenced the ratio of folks leaving New York versus those moving in, but there are a multitude of reasons why New Yorkers move out. Here are the top 6 according to United Van Lines.

Gallery Credit: Matty Jeff

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