As Massachusetts prepares for a weekend sales tax holiday, a new poll suggests that temporary relief offers little comfort to many former residents who say the Commonwealth’s overall tax burden pushed them to relocate.
Poll indicates taxes drive departures
The Mass Opportunity Alliance (MOA), a pro-business group formed in 2024, surveyed 1,151 people who voted in Massachusetts in 2024 but have since moved to New Hampshire, Florida or North Carolina. Conducted by text message July 28-29, 2026, the poll carries a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Just over half of respondents — 50.7% — identified the state’s tax burden as one of their top reasons for leaving. A much larger share, nearly 81%, said they believe Massachusetts taxes are too high, a sentiment MOA says held across the political spectrum.
Income tax appears to be the most acute concern: about seven in 10 former residents singled it out as the most troubling of the state’s various taxes.
Costs beyond taxes also weigh heavily
While taxes dominated responses, other cost pressures were prominent. Nearly half of respondents, 49.1%, named rent or home prices as their biggest financial challenge, and 21.7% pointed to high utility costs.
Those responses reflect broader affordability tensions that policymakers and housing advocates have highlighted for years in Massachusetts — a state with high median incomes but also among the highest housing costs in the nation.
- Sample size: 1,151 former MA voters
- Polling dates: July 28–29, 2026
- Margin of error: ±3 percentage points
Where respondents went and why it matters
MOA focused on three competitor states — New Hampshire, Florida and North Carolina — that have actively pitched lower taxes or lower costs of living to draw residents and businesses. Each destination offers different fiscal models: New Hampshire has no broad-based income tax, Florida has no state income tax and competitive property markets, and North Carolina has lower marginal income tax rates and expanding job centers.
Those contrasts matter for Massachusetts policymakers. If taxpayers — particularly high earners or households priced out of local housing markets — continue to leave, the state could face longer-term fiscal and economic consequences, including shifts in the tax base and labor supply in key sectors.
Numbers in context
Massachusetts’ sales tax holiday this weekend exempts most purchases under $2,500 from the state’s 6.25% sales tax. But a one- or two-day holiday addresses immediate retail costs, not the structural concerns cited in the MOA poll: income tax levels, housing affordability and utility expenses.
| Issue | Share naming it a top concern |
|---|---|
| State tax burden | 50.7% |
| Believe taxes too high | ~81% |
| Income tax most concerning | ~70% |
| Rent or home prices | 49.1% |
| High utility costs | 21.7% |
Methodology and caveats
The MOA poll was conducted via text message by an independent research firm and targeted a specific cohort: individuals who voted in Massachusetts in 2024 and have since relocated to one of three states. That targeted sampling gives insight into the motivations of a particular group of movers but does not measure overall migration flows into or out of Massachusetts across the whole population.
Because the poll focuses on former voters who moved to selected competitor states, its findings cannot be generalized to all Massachusetts residents or to all out-migrants. Still, the results offer a snapshot of the grievances — especially fiscal concerns — cited by a defined subset of recent movers.
Policy implications
The findings add to a growing conversation among lawmakers and business groups about how tax policy, housing affordability and utility costs shape where people choose to live and work. Advocates for tax relief point to the survey as evidence that tax reform could stem outmigration, while opponents may emphasize investments in housing, public services and targeted subsidies to address living-cost pressures.
For residents weighing the decision to stay or leave, the survey underscores a broader calculation that extends beyond a weekend of sales tax relief: many are counting the cumulative impact of taxes, housing and energy bills when choosing where to put down roots.
Fernando Guzman is the Massachusetts correspondent for NEXO RADAR.
