People have been leaving NYS since the mid 1970s. Me and three siblings all left after attending SUNY colleges. Almost all of the friends I grew up with in Orchard Park(home of the Buffalo Bills) left and moved out of state. I can only think of one or two friends that stayed.
New York has had the largest number of people leave. However, the metro area that is currently seeing the largest exodus is San Francisco and Oakland. My company pays for a service that tracks housing starts and permits. It breaks it down by geographical areas. So you can see what areas are growing and what are not.
Out of 40 different metro areas in the USA the one with the LOWEST building permits year to date for 2023 is Kansas City, MO at 5719. St. Louis is number two 637. San Fran/Oakland/Berkeley is number three(lowest) at 6488.
As a comparison Houston is the highest in the country at 59,997. Dallas/Ft Worth is 57,310. Phoenix is 37182. NYC/Newark is 34,459. Atlanta is 34,315.
The San Francisco area is losing more people than any other metro area. Many are moving to LA and the valley east of LA. Many are also moving to Sacramento. Lots were moving to Austin. Though that has slowed down, but Austin is still in the top ten in the country at 33,149 starts. They also also still moving to Boise and Coeur D’Alene, ID and Bozeman.
San Fran has the lowest starts of ANY metro area in the western US states.
Houston is the highest in the country at 59,997.
You ought to see all the new neighborhoods popping up all over the Houston area. Montgomery and Ft. Bend counties are booming with new neighborhoods, schools and roads.