Many are younger individuals and middle income families.
Md. Comptroller Brooke Lierman
Annapolis, Md (KM) Maryland is losing population to some of its neighboring states. A report from the Maryland Comptrollers’ Office called “Housing and the Economy” says between 2010 and 2023, Maryland lost a total of 2.3 million people to other states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Delaware.
Comptroller Brooke Lierman says the main reason is the high cost of housing. “We have in Maryland a higher cost of living then many of our neighboring states, and states that we are losing people to,” she says. “The biggest factor in cost of living in any state is your house, your housing costs, whether you’re renting or buying.”
She says this trend could have an impact on the state’s economy. “Prior to the pandemic, we lost mostly older higher income residents, mostly retirees. But since the pandemic, we’re seeing a greater share of younger and lower and middle income residents leaving the state. And that’s concerning because that’s our workforce, that’s our future,” says Lierman.
The report says Maryland continues to gain residents due to international migration and net population growth. It also continues to bring in residents from New York, New Jersey and Washington DC.
Lierman says while housing costs have gone up, salaries have not kept pace. “Since 2000, home prices have grown by over $130,000 in real terms. while household income has increased by less than $10,000. So there’s a huge mismatch between what people make and what people pay for housing.”
Other concerns about housing raised in the report are that the cost of residential construction materials have increased by 38 percent nationally between 2019 and 2024, and hourly ages in the construction industry have gone up by 22 percent nationally; 23 percent in Maryland.
The report says the average cost of construction n in Maryland for materials and labor is $161 per square foot.
“The lack of supply of rental units is driving rental prices,” Lierman says. “New construction is not keeping up with demand. But also insurance, construction and utility costs are rising.”
Another concern raised by the report is the impact of regulations on housing construction. Lierman says they may hinder residential construction, decreasing the housing stock. “Policymakers at every level need to partner to think about where we can work to address housing affordability through curtailing or changing some of these policies that we passed over many, many years,” she says.
Some of those polices, according to the report, include density limitations, parking requirements, adequate public facilities ordinances and forest conservation requirements. Other policies citied by the report are infrastructure limitations, development impact fees, building excise taxes, public input periods and appeals rights.
By Kevin McManus