New York City lost more residents than those who moved in last year, according to a new study from the Citizens’ Budget Commission released Monday.
The Citizens Budget Commission reported that the city’s overall population declined in 2025.
The study explained further that the population decline is due to the 70% drop in New Yorkers moving to other areas and international migration.
According to the study, “Across all income levels, more people moved out of New York City than moved in last year.”
Last year, New York City lost 114,000 more residents to other US cities than it gained.
Although it’s an increase from 2024, it still did not surpass the pandemic-era exodus.
The study also found that in 2024, New York City lost more low- and middle-income residents than it did high-income residents.
More New Yorkers with incomes in the bottom 40% moved out between 2023 and 2024.
New York City is often criticized for its high cost of living. Mayor Zohran Mamdani pledged to tackle affordability with a government-run grocery store and rent freezes.
Fox News Digital previously reported on residents claiming Mamdani is backtracking on campaign promises to lower housing costs, pointing to a proposed property tax hike, rising water bills and higher electricity costs as signs that life is only getting more expensive.
Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The city’s losses came after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lamented the flight of wealthy tax-paying residents to red states like Florida and Texas.
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San Francisco’s population experienced a similar decline, in which it had not recovered since pandemic levels.
“San Francisco metro area’s population failed to grow again in 2025, despite a swelling boom in AI,” The San Francisco Chronicle reported in March.
“Unlike in almost every other major metro in the country, that’s left the region’s total population well below its 2020 level, according to newly released US census estimates.”
The city has been plagued by skyrocketing costs of living for the past several years.
Former residents have explained that they found a better quality and cost of living outside the Bay Area, where homelessness and housing prices have skyrocketed.
The issue led residents to moderate Daniel Lurie in 2024, defeating incumbent Democrat London Breed in a shift away from lenient policies on crime, drugs and homelessness that critics say contributed to the city’s decline.
