If you look at results “per capita”, for a longer time period, I think one can argue IL has been worse than NY.
I would also observe though, that simple population loss is too simple a metric. Better would be to analyze WHO is leaving. For example, a state that had a net gain of 1% of it’s population in 10 years might appear to be more healthy than, say, IL. But, if that gain broke down to a gain of 2% low income residents minus 1% residents from the top 30th percentile of incomes, that state has a very serious economic problem developing.
Maryland put in an extra tax on millionaires a few years ago. It was published that the state took in less state income tax from people making a million or more the next year. One statistic that was never published was the actual number of millionaire filers they had in the two years. It seems that lots of people who already had second homes in Florida managed to live in Florida six months and one day, thereby paying zero income tax to Maryland. Rich people didn’t get that way by being stupid.
