Over the past few years, states in the American South have come to economically surpass the Northeast, owing to policies like lower taxes and better business environments spurring prosperity and population growth, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The gross domestic product of Florida, Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee surpassed the cumulative economy of the Northeast in 2020 for the first time since data has been tracked and has continued to exceed growth since, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis compiled by Bloomberg. The growth comes as businesses and people flock to the region seeking affordability, job opportunities, lighter tax and regulation laws and freedom from dense urban areas, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.

“The main driver of growth differentials between the states is public policy,” E.J. Antoni, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, told the DCNF. “This includes tax and regulatory policy, both of which vary wildly between states. Because the South, on average, has states with lower tax burdens, less burdensome regulation, better business climates, and more worker freedoms, these states also average faster growth.”

Five Northeastern states are in the top six in terms of tax burdens in 2023, led by New York, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey, with burdens of 12.47%, 11.14%, 10.28%, 9.83% and 9.76%, respectively, according to data from WalletHub.