New York, NY —

Middle class New Yorkers are the ones most likely to stay put in the city according to the city comptroller Bill Thompson. His office analyzed 2005 census data and found affluent New Yorkers and the working class are more likely to move out.

REPORTER: Those earning over $140 thousand a year are heading for the surrounding suburbs while those at the other end of the income scale - earning between $40 thousand and $60 thousand a year - are more likely to leave the state. City Deputy Comptroller Marcia Van Wagner cited possible reasons why:

WAGNER: "It looks like maybe there's a couple rungs missing on the economic ladder in NY and that's why that group [those earning $40-$60/year] is more likely to leave. And certainly, the cost of living in NYC is very difficult to cope with when you're in that income bracket."

REPORTER: Overall, the analysis finds that in 2005 more than twice as many people left New York than came to it. Joe Salvo from the Department of City planning says that's been the trend for decades, with the gap typically being filled by new immigrants and new births.