Nearly half of Massachusetts residents say they have considered leaving the state due to concerns about the state’s economy and affordability, according to a new poll.
But while some have blamed high taxes as the main cause, the poll found that overall cost of living is the biggest concern for more residents.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said the new poll, which was conducted along with The Boston Globe, shows a “widening gap between the haves and the have nots.”
More than 40% of state residents have named the cost of living as the primary reason they have considered moving out of state, according to the poll. Taxes came in a distant second, at just over 18% of residents.
The poll found that more than 30% of residents reported the price of food and groceries had the biggest impact on personal finances. Utility costs, which were previously identified as having the biggest impact, was second at 16%.
“That’s the single biggest driving factor right now in terms of what people are concerned about: Just going to the grocery store and buying enough groceries to eat,” Paleologos said. “You can see how, when you have a lower income, food and grocery prices have such a bigger piece of the pie for those households and how that impact is affecting the decisions that they have to make going forward.”
The poll also found that lower income people are more pessimistic about the economy. According to the poll, 41% of households earning an annual income of $20,000 or less rated the Massachusetts economy as poor, compared with just 14% of those making $140,000 per year or more.
“They [low-income categories] care about just paying their bills … so the high food and housing costs are really hurting the lower-income categories, he said. “The high-income categories — they’re not affected very much at all by the inflation and the cost of food and groceries, but they care more about taxes.”
Paleologos said this creates a dilemma.
“You’ve got people who are threatening to leave the state or have thought about leaving the state because of high taxes on the high-income side, and then there are people on the low-income side who can’t afford to live here anymore,” he said. “It’s kind of like a burning candle, and as it melts away, the middle of the candle is what’s left.”
Support for income tax cut remains high
But while fewer than one-in-five residents considers taxes to be the biggest concern, 65% of residents said they’d support a proposed ballot question that would cut the state income tax rate to 4% from 5% by 2029.
Paleologos said he thinks the high cost of living is driving that support.
“We polled this exact same question in November and the numbers were almost identical. They haven’t moved,” he said. “Even with the undecideds, it’s going to be hard to reverse that [support]. At least at this point in time, right now, it’s winning over three to one.”
But despite concerns about the state’s affordability, Massachusetts residents reported feeling better about the state’s direction and economy, with 41% rating it as excellent or good. That’s nearly double the 21% in a similar poll taken last November.
Paleologos said while these numbers are better than national polls, low incomes households are still “falling by the wayside.”
“In Massachusetts … we’re not really a commonwealth today where there’s a separation and not everyone is benefiting from the stock market gains and all of the economic indicators that people at the national level are boasting about,” he said. “We’re leaving people behind in Massachusetts, and that’s something that’s going to be a challenge for the governor or who the next governor will be over the next four years.”
