According to census data, more than 46,000 people emigrated out of Massachusetts between 2020 and 2021, the fourth largest exodus in the country behind New York, California, and Illinois. A new report warns this is one of several concerning trends that could erode the state's economic growth, particularly at a time when more employees can work from almost anywhere.

THE MASSACHUSETTS Taxpayers Foundation released a dire warning Friday that the state’s competitive economic edge is being jeopardized by the high cost of living and working in Massachusetts.

The core of the argument is not new, but the 44-page report marshals a host of statistics and evidence to argue that pandemic-related factors like the ability to work remotely threaten to worsen existing problems.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a policy research group, argued in a report released Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic underscored signs that the state's competitive edge was already waning. Tens of thousands of taxpayers were already fleeing the state every year, the report contends, but the pandemic reshaped how and where people work while highlighting the dire need for greater access to child care, housing, safe transportation and workforce development.

The bottom line: High costs pose a much bigger threat to Massachusetts now than they did before COVID-19 changed the way companies and their employees think about remote work. The Taxpayers Foundation report cites particular concerns with an outmigration of talent that is already underway, an exodus that the report links to the high cost of housing and other living expenses. The report seeks to puncture what it calls “a belief in Massachusetts exceptionalism,” that this state will always be home to the best and brightest.

Massachusetts is facing a perfect storm of circumstances which, if not addressed, threaten to undermine the state’s historic advantage in attracting and retaining both businesses and talent, and could ultimately jeopardize our economic edge over other states.

Several budget analysts, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, have suggested the state could afford both tax break initiatives.

Legislative leaders have less than a week to reconcile the House and Senate’s differing $5 billion omnibus spending, tax and policy bills. This Bulletin identifies key fiscal and policy provisions to be negotiated by the Conference Committee tasked with reconciling the differences and makes recommendations to resolve major policy differences.

But as Ashley White, a researcher for the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said, "It struggles even to serve all of those families." White pointed to February data showing more than 16,000 income-eligible children on waitlists for care in Massachusetts.

In a mobile business world, where smart workers can now do their jobs remotely from anywhere, will some choose to relocate to a place where the living is easier and the housing more affordable? That, said Eileen McAnneny, the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, is a real worry. The mantra for business is “go where the talent is. . . . If we don’t have the talent, then we do run a risk,” she said.

“It won’t be the last headline that we read in that regard,” Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said after the host of a forum on the state budget read a breaking news alert about the company’s plans. Companies are “much more attuned to relative cost differences,” she said.