Everyone's Leaving
The Boston Globe published a striking headline this weekend: "Everyone's leaving: Why more of the wealthy are moving from Massachusetts to other states."
The article confirms what anyone in southern New Hampshire already knows. The cars have Massachusetts plates. The accents are unmistakable. People are fleeing a state that won't stop raising taxes, and they're coming here.
The Numbers
Boston Globe / Census data
Pioneer Institute
BU Questrom / IRS data
This has been building for years, and it's accelerating. Massachusetts lost the equivalent of one and a half Cambridges over the past five years. According to the Josiah Bartlett Center, New Hampshire gained nearly 100,000 net residents from Massachusetts between 2010 and 2023 alone.
The Millionaires Tax Backfire
In 2022, Massachusetts voters approved the "Fair Share Amendment," an additional 4% surtax on income over $1 million on top of the existing 5% flat rate. High earners in Massachusetts now pay a 9% state income tax rate on income above the threshold.
Revenue poured in. $2.46 billion in the first year. $2.99 billion in the second. A total of $5.7 billion over two years, roughly double what proponents had projected.
But the people behind those dollars are leaving.
“Half of my Massachusetts clients over the last five years have either left or are planning to leave. That represents billions of dollars in net worth and hundreds of millions of dollars in annual income.”Paul Karger, co-founder of TwinFocus Capital Partners ($7.9 billion under advisory), in the Boston Globe
Karger's clients aren't moving to save a few thousand dollars. They're relocating billions in net worth. When they leave, they take their charitable giving, their business investments, and their job creation with them.
“When the entrepreneurs leave, lots of other jobs leave too. I've started my third company in Florida, and there are right now 25, 30 employees that would've been in Massachusetts, and they are not going to be.”Craig Welch, entrepreneur and former Massachusetts resident, in the Boston Globe
A Boston University study estimated that if the trend continues, net outmigration could reach 96,000 people per year by 2030, taking $19.2 billion in income and costing Massachusetts roughly $961 million per year in lost tax revenue. The millionaires tax collected $5.7 billion in two years. The exodus may cost far more in the long run.
Where They're Going
Florida is the top destination for Massachusetts money. But New Hampshire is a close second, and for wealthy residents in Greater Boston, it's the easiest move. Same time zone. Same regional economy. An hour from the office. No income tax.
According to the 2024 United Van Lines National Movers Study, 53% of residents leaving Massachusetts earn $150,000 or more annually. Nearly 74% earn over $100,000. Massachusetts isn't losing its struggling residents. It's losing its most productive ones.
New Hampshire real estate tells the story. The median single-family home price hit $502,500 in January 2025, up 12.9% in a single year. Southern NH towns like Salem, Nashua, and Merrimack are seeing sustained demand from Massachusetts buyers who can afford to pay cash, because the money they save on income taxes more than covers the move.
The Tax Comparison
The math is obvious for anyone earning above the median:
| Tax | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | 5% (9% over $1M) | None |
| Capital gains | 5% - 8.5% | None |
| Sales tax | 6.25% | None |
| Estate tax | Yes ($2M threshold) | None |
| Interest & dividends | 5% | None (repealed 2025) |
A Massachusetts household earning $2 million a year pays roughly $140,000 in state income tax, including the surtax. In New Hampshire, that same household pays $0. Yes, NH property tax rates are higher. But for high earners, the income tax savings dwarf the property tax difference. It's not even close.
“Massachusetts thinks [the new tax has] been a big tailwind, and it's got a couple billion dollars of collected revenue. That's shortsighted. They're going to need that, because people are leaving.”Paul Karger, TwinFocus Capital Partners
The Lesson for New Hampshire
This matters because right now, there are people in Concord who want to bring a Massachusetts-style income tax to New Hampshire. The 3-3 Plan would impose a new income tax on the Granite State. The same kind of tax that Massachusetts residents are literally fleeing.
Massachusetts tried it. They told their residents it was "fair." They raised $5.7 billion. And now the Globe is writing articles with the headline "Everyone's leaving."
New Hampshire doesn't need to learn this lesson the hard way. We can read the Globe.
The people moving here aren't coming for the weather. They're coming because New Hampshire doesn't punish success. No income tax. No sales tax. No capital gains tax. No estate tax. The #1 freest state in America, every single year.
That's the competitive advantage that 20,000 Massachusetts residents just bet their futures on.
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