(HorizonPost.com) – According to a recent analysis of tax data, Oregon’s Multnomah County lost over $1 billion in income between 2020 and 2021 as residents flee the region due to rising crime, homelessness, and other safety concerns in Portland, Fox News reported.
Oregon Live analyzed Internal Revenue Service data that showed Multnomah County lost 14,257 tax filers and their dependants in 2020 who fled the region taking $1 billion in income with them.
Based on the data, high earners were more likely to migrate away from the area since they were working remotely during the pandemic lockdowns.
In 2020, the average income of those leaving the country was 14 percent higher than the average income of those who left in 2019.
Meanwhile, the average income of those moving into Multnomah County declined slightly in 2020.
In May, KPTV in Oregon reported that the city of Portland enjoyed 15 consecutive years of growth before its population began to decline in 2020.
Census data found that Portland lost 8,308 residents from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022.
Not coincidentally, Portland residents began to head for the exits around the time crime in the city began to spike. In 2021, Portland’s homicide rate reached a record high – a record that was quickly broken the following year.
Additionally, the city’s homeless crisis continues to grow prompting Portland businesses to sound the alarm about the increased crime that has come with it.
In December, Portland business owner Katherine Sealy told Fox News that business is unsustainable given the city’s current problems. She said business owners have no recourse or protection against crime in the city.
The Portland Mayor’s office reported in April that homelessness in the city has increased by 50 percent between 2019 and 2022.
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