Latinos moved to low-tax, red states in record numbers in the last decade

The results from the most recent U.S. Census show shifts in state populations as Americans move to places with better economic prospects, according to a newly released study from the Tax Foundation.

In 2021, the study shows that the five U.S. states (including in this case Washington, D.C.) that lost the highest number of residents were the nation's capital, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, and California. All five are Democrat-led territories with notoriously high taxes.

The states that saw the largest number of in-migration in last year were Republican-led Arizona, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina and Utah.

"Sometimes taxes are expressly part of the calculation" in deciding to move, said the foundation's Jared Walczak. "Often they play an indirect role by contributing to a broadly favorable economic environment. And sometimes, of course, they play little or no role. The Census data and these industry studies cannot tell us exactly why each person moved, but there is no denying a very strong correlation between low-tax, low-cost states and population growth."

Of particular note in the report are the figures pertaining to the U.S. Latino population.

The Latino voting base is now split about evenly between those favoring Democrats and those favoring Republicans – a statistic that represents a marked gain for the GOP over the last decade or so. 

As the U.S. Latino population grows – it accounted for 51% of total U.S. population growth in the last decade – the preference of its voting base has also diversified to reflect a number of cultural and societal preferences of the group.

In part, that is why the states with the lowest growth rate of their Latino populations in the last decade are all high-tax, Democrat-led states including California, Illinois, New Mexico and New York. And the four states with the highest growth of their Latino population are Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.