Which PA Counties Gained, Lost Most Income In Pandemic Migration?

PENNSYLVANIA — As people left major Pennsylvania metro areas during the pandemic, they took their income with them — with high earners leaving many large urban areas across the United States between 2020 and 2021, a new report found.

Rural counties benefited most from the migration of people — and earnings — from major cities, according to report released Tuesday by the Economic Innovation Group.

"The exodus of workers and families from major U.S. cities during the first two years of the pandemic was exceeded by an even larger outflow of income," said the EIG in their report, which was compiled using federal tax data.

One major metro area in Pennsylvania lost more than a billion dollars in taxable income as high-earning residents left, the study showed.

Overall, the EIG analysis shows that people left major Pennsylvania cities — particularly Philadelphia — and moved into more rural communities.

The federal income tax base in large urban counties fell by more than $68 billion between 2020 and 2021 from net migration (people moving from place to place) alone, the report said. Meanwhile, the net growth in adjusted growth income (AGI) in rural counties totaled more than 1.5 of existing residents' taxable incomes, the study said.

The EIG said that this loss of income in urban counties could have long-lasting impacts "on issues, including, but not limited to, local housing markets, demand for retail in urban cores, and the fiscal sustainability of public services operated by local governments," if not reversed.

Which counties had the largest differences in money, as people moved in or out?

Patch analyzed the EIG study to determine which counties had the largest annual change in adjusted gross income, based on net migration in 2020 and 2021.

In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County had the biggest percent change and the biggest dollar change overall. The most populous county in the state lost $1.61 billion in taxable income after high-earning individuals and families left in 2020 and 2021, representing a 6.7 percent loss.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) lost 2.2 percent of net taxable income, or $768,883,000, according to the study. Dauphin County (Harrisburg/Hershey) lost 1 percent of its tax base, or $61,016,000.

Pike and Wayne counties, in northeastern Pennsylvania, had the highest growth in their taxable income bases: Pike County, gained 7.4 percent, or $89,523,000; and Wayne County, gained 5 percent, or $48,515,000.

Forest County, in the northwest part of the state, got a 4.2 percent boost in AGI as new neighbors added $4,047,000 to the tax base.

To read more about the Economic Innovation Group's study, click here.