Report: Two Million Left Major Cities from 2020 to 2022

Roughly two million people have left major cities from 2020 to 2022, according to a report from the Economic Innovation Group.

The data points to a major exit during the worst years of the coronavirus pandemic, as crowded, Democrat-run cities held on to draconian mandates and restrictions for an extended period of time.

In August 2021 — well over a year after the start of the pandemic — New York City’s then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) touted his administration’s aggressive efforts to force individuals to get vaccinated, which included cutting off unvaccinated individuals from everyday activities.

“The Key to New York City. When you hear those words, I want you to imagine the notion that because someone’s vaccinated, they can do all the amazing things that are available in the city,” he said at the time.

“And if you’re vaccinated, all of that’s going to open up to you. You’ll have the key, you can open the door. If you’re unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things,” he said, making it clear that his intention was to force people to view vaccination as “literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life.”

People can't leave New York City fast enough. https://t.co/8WdfL7o7zX

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 16, 2020

New York City was not the only big city with major mandates, as individuals were forced to endure ongoing rules and regulations in places such as Los Angeles as well. In fact, L.A. County was still “strongly recommending” masking late last year.

According to the data, roughly two million individuals fled big cities from 2020 to 2022. About 1.2 million fled these areas from July 2020 to July 2021 alone.  About 861,000 fled urban counties the following year.

Per the data:

Domestic outmigration from large urban counties to suburbs and exurbs continued in 2022, though at a slower pace than the year prior. Over 1.2 million people left large urban counties between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021, with nearly 800,000 flowing into the suburbs and exurbs; this movement continued to a lesser degree in 2022. Large urban counties trimmed losses to 861,000 last year, while inflows to the suburbs halved and domestic migration to exurban counties fell by one-quarter.

The data also found that “exurban and suburban counties continued to benefit from domestic migration, adding over 800,000 new residents from other county types on net.”

This coincides with the findings from the United States Census Bureau, which showed blue states, in general, experiencing the greatest population loss in 2022. That includes a loss of 343,000 residents for California and almost 300,000 residents fleeing New York as well.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that 300,000 people left California in 2022, more than left any other state, amid a general slow increase in the U.S. population as the country recovered from COVID-19. https://t.co/QOsZQtbZ8J

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 23, 2022

As Breitbart News reported:

At the same time, more Americans resettled in Florida, more than 318,000, than any other state this year. Texas saw the second-largest net domestic migration with nearly 231,000 Americans moving to the state, followed by North Carolina, where almost 100,000 Americans moved.