You may find a pattern here.....

New York, New Jersey, etc used to be the industrial heartland of this country, where people made money. Not anymore.

I found this article about why doctors are leaving New Jersey and you will be shocked why:

New Jersey’s Disappearing Doctors

New Jersey is experiencing a shortage of doctors. In fact, it’s projected that by 2020 the state will be about 3,000 primary care physicians short of what is needed to give optimal health care.

So why are doctors fleeing the Garden State?

According to Deborah Briggs, the President and CEO of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, New Jersey loses nearly 70% of the doctors it educates to other states. This is well below the national average of a 48% retention rate.

In other words, in 2013 New Jersey only kept about 34% of the doctors who were educated and trained in the state.

The Council of Teaching Hospitals and a nationwide study done by Merritt Hawkins, says New Jersey is just not competitive when it comes to keeping doctors in state.

The top five reasons for physicians leaving are:

Better salary offered outside of New Jersey

Cost of living in New Jersey

Better job/practice opportunities in desired locations outside of New Jersey

Taxes in New Jersey

Affordable Housing

...The room was filled with 40 or so doctors who also added malpractice insurance issues to the list, explaining that it’s just too expensive to start a practice here.

Malpractice reform has greatly helped Texas retain doctors by limiting putative damages to 250K while while not limiting actual damages. Lawyers hate that but it makes doctors want to stay.

Now granted, MD's are in high demand (that will only get worse) and other areas offer higher salaries and there is a high cost of living. But of all the things listed, is anyone specific to the practice of medicine? A mechanic can take his skills and get a job in Texas where housing is less than half that of the NE corridor, there is no state income tax and you don't have to pay 11 dollars on a toll road for five miles (sticker shock from a vacation a few years ago).

But again, I wonder if the powers that be in the area would look at this list and say maybe that's why people are leaving the NE and moving west and south. If you make it too damned high (like the the rent) to live there, people will move. And moving they are.