NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City has long been a destination of choice for young up-and-comers, but a new population analysis suggests that, at least for the last decade, the Big Apple has not had the same appeal as a place to grow older.

Since 1990, New York has seen an influx of adults aged 20 to 34. But many of those young adults who arrived in the 1990s left once they hit middle age, said a report issued on Thursday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

As a state, New York experienced the most significant exodus, relative to population, of any U.S. state, losing nearly 3 million residents over the last two decades.

An influx of immigrants reduced the net loss to about 800,000 residents.

While New York City has been a magnet for young adults, other parts of the state, including upstate New York, the Hudson Valley and Long Island, have seen that population drop sharply, the report said.

"The relative youthfulness of a region's population is in many ways an important precursor of future economic growth," it said. "Unfortunately, with the notable exception of New York City, New York State got older faster than the rest of the country between 1990 and 2010."

(Reporting by Edith Honan; editing by Gunna Dickson)