An Axios-Ipsos poll is the latest confirmation of what many people already see happening around them: deeply divided Americans are sorting themselves into ever-redder and bluer states that better align with their personal ideologies.
“Democrats thinking about moving to another state are about twice as likely to consider blue states than red or swing states — and Republicans’ preference for red states over the alternatives is even more pronounced,” surmises Axios in a report on the Axios-Ipsos Two Americas Index results released today.
Nearly a third of the people surveyed (30%) said they had thought about moving in the past six months. Of those, a solid majority of both Republicans (58%) and Democrats (55%) reported a preference for moving to a state where the government aligned better with their personal politics. An even greater percentage — 65% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats — preferred a new home that was a better fit for their cultural and social values. Republicans were most apt to move to lower-tax states, while Democrats were lured by abortions, rainbow-sex people, and the quest for that ever-elusive racial equality.
It’s worth noting that politics was not the greatest motivator for people considering moving to another state: cost of living was the top reason by far. Personal and family reasons were the next biggest factor, followed closely by searches for jobs and lower taxes. Axios provided this handy chart:
It’s notable that more Republicans cited financial factors than Democrats, while more Democrats than Republicans were at leisure to consider family or personal reasons for a move. This comports with the latest data showing that the Democrat Party is the party of the rich. Washington Examiner noted last year:
Democrats are the party of the wealthy, a flip from decades ago when it was the party of the poor and middle class.
Democrats represented 65% of taxpayers with a household income of $500,000 or more in 2020, according to IRS data, while 74% of taxpayers in Republican districts have household incomes of less than $100,000.
Related: When It Comes to Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery, Red States Are Leading the Way
The Great Shutdown of the COVID-19 era kicked relocations into high gear when it liberated white collar Americans from their offices. Once they could work remotely yet maintain their income level, many of these mostly progressive, high-earning people moved out of their sh*thole cities to more pleasant surroundings. As they carted along their destructive politics and higher home prices, the locals started eyeing the door. Anecdotally, I know more people that I can count who are fleeing the Northeast for Florida. Those who can afford two homes maintain a small summer place up north but spend at least six months and one day every year in their new income-tax-free home. The other emigrants sell their family homes to the city folk who take over their towns for a tidy sum, then head south and never look back.
While hotheads on the internet like to talk big about civil wars and revolutions, most people understand that would be hell on earth. But as politics and culture become more aggressive and divisive every day, cooler heads nonetheless fantasize about a great national divorce. If enough Americans keep voting with their feet, many intractably interwoven systems could conceivably sort themselves into distinct geographic entities over time. If a terrible day ever came when the union split asunder, perhaps there would ultimately be less bloodshed in the process if people have already performed a peaceful self-sorting.
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