A Commonwealth Foundation poll shows a lot of Pennsylvanians are considering relocation.

Tell us something we didn’t know.

Pennsylvania has been aware of its changing demographics for years. Decades, actually.

Pennsylvania lost one of its seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, bringing the number of Keystone State lawmakers down to just 17. The state lost a seat after the 2010 count, too, just like 2000.

The good news was the bleeding slowed to just one every 10 years. The six prior censuses had taken away two or three congressional districts. You have to go back to 1920 to see a year in which Pennsylvania didn’t lose a seat – and to 1910 to see any gained.

It isn’t that Pennsylvania is losing people, per se. The population is growing – just not in that age group and not as fast as other places. Census numbers show Pennsylvania’s population rose about 300,000 people, or about 2.4%, between 2010 and 2020, topping 13 million.

But nationally, the population grew 7.4%, meaning Pennsylvania just isn’t growing at the same rate as America overall. That means other states are growing faster.

The Commonwealth Foundation poll of 800 registered voters showed that 42.25% considered moving. The reasons? Taxes and the cost of living primarily, but other issues noted show a grab bag of political motivations.

Pennsylvania has been a powerhouse state for the economy and politics. It contains the universities that drive innovation and education, the manufacturing that can push growth, a considerable amount of the financial sector and is a massive contributor to the energy industry. The state is a transportation linchpin for moving goods. Politically, you aren’t wrong to say that as Pennsylvania votes, so goes the nation.

The bottom line and the voting record require people to be here and stay here to contribute. With more people looking to leave, that’s the continuation of a troubling trend.

But is the survey telling us what we need to know? Or do we need more than a list of grievances?

People looking for greener pastures need more data about what they are hoping to find elsewhere and what the reality would look like when they get there. They also need to know that sometimes it’s better to fix up the house where you live than it is to pack up and move.

There is overlap sometimes between states that are seeing growth and those that have lower cost of living, but not always. Among those growing fastest are Florida, Idaho and Montana. Montana is 15th for low cost of living, with Idaho 17th and Florida 36th, according to U.S. News and World Report. Pennsylvania is 28th.

The states with the lowest tax burdens are Alaska, Delaware and New Hampshire – all on the high side of cost of living. Pennsylvania is 30th in tax burden, according to financial services website WalletHub, although the state does tip the scales dramatically in some areas, like gas tax.

Pennsylvania has a lot to improve. We need more jobs and better jobs with the kind of paychecks that make supporting a family and owning a home more than a pipe dream. But the numbers don’t say that’s more likely to happen elsewhere.

We just need more Pennsylvanians willing to do the work of making the state where they live into the home of their dreams.