New research from JLL indicates that New York is outperforming rival states in attracting and retaining high-value workers, even as headline population data suggests the city is losing residents overall. The firm notes that, when looking beyond broad migration statistics, the segment of workers most critical to financial, technology, and innovation-focused companies continues to favor New York in large numbers.
JLL observes that population flows between major “exchange” states such as California, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, and Illinois may appear straightforward at first glance. For example, Florida draws a majority of movers in the two-way migration stream between New York and Florida, capturing 53% of those relocating between the two locations. On the surface, this reinforces the narrative that New York is steadily ceding residents to the Sun Belt.
However, JLL’s analysis shows that the picture changes when the data is filtered to focus on workers whose skills are in highest demand among office-using industries. These specialized profiles include professionals in finance, technology, and innovation sectors that rely on deep labor pools and dense urban networks. When isolating this group, the apparent outflow from New York is reversed, and New York emerges as the preferred destination for these high-value workers.
Kevin Kelly, vice chairman at JLL, argues that this reframing challenges the commonly cited “Wall Street South” storyline that positions Florida as the clear winner in talent migration from New York. He notes that corporate real estate and location strategies increasingly depend on access to specialized labor, rather than simple headcount growth. While Florida continues to post strong gains on broad population metrics, JLL finds that New York maintains a clear edge in attracting and retaining the specific talent that underpins its financial and technology ecosystems.
For companies weighing office location decisions, JLL’s findings suggest that New York remains a powerful draw for the kinds of workers that drive productivity and innovation. The data underscores that headline migration numbers can obscure meaningful differences in the type and value of talent moving between states. From an employment base perspective, New York’s concentration of high-value workers appears to remain intact, even as overall population trends show more mixed results.
JLL’s analysis across the five largest exchange states illustrates how migration patterns can look markedly different once the focus shifts from total resident counts to the subset of workers most sought by office-using sectors. In that narrower, but economically significant, segment of the labor market, New York continues to perform strongly relative to competing destinations.
