Where Americans Are Moving, and How Much Income Goes With Them

Every year the IRS matches millions of tax returns against the previous year's and notes which ones now come from a different state. Because those returns also report income, the data shows not just where people are moving but how much income moves with them. I went through all twelve years the IRS has published in this form, from 2011-12 to 2022-23, using the same data behind the site's income migration map, to see which states keep winning, which keep losing, and who is actually doing the moving.

DaveManuel.com · Money and Politics · November 2026

Twelve years of IRS data point the same way: income moving out of New York, California and Illinois and into Florida, Texas and the Carolinas. The flow jumped during the pandemic and eased in the latest year, but not back to where it started, and the states winning it are winning in different ways.

$335 billionof income was reported by tax filers who moved between states in the IRS's latest year, 2022-23

$224 billionFlorida's net gain in income from movers over the twelve years, more than the next five states combined

$125 billionNew York's net loss over the same twelve years, the largest of any state; California lost $114 billion

$122,539the average income of filers who moved to Florida in 2022-23, against $76,133 for those who left

IRS Statistics of Income migration data, 2011-12 to 2022-23, as compiled for DaveManuel.com. Income is adjusted gross income in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. What the data does and does not show is explained in section 06.

In this articleThe latest year · Twelve years · Florida and Texas win differently · The routes · Do taxes explain it? · What the numbers cannot tell you

01The Latest Year: Who Gained and Who Lost

In the IRS's 2022-23 data, 23 states gained income from people moving in and out, and 28, counting the District of Columbia, lost it. Florida's gain of $20.6 billion was more than the next four states put together. California and New York lost the most, about $12 billion and $10 billion.

The last column puts each figure in proportion: the net gain or loss as a share of the income reported by filers who stayed put. By that measure South Carolina gained slightly more than Florida, 2.6% against 2.4%, and Illinois lost more than New York.

The 10 biggest gains, 2022-23

State	Net filers	Net income	Avg income, arriving	Avg income, leaving	Share of stayers' income
Florida	+55,349	+20.6B	$122,539	$76,133	+2.4%
Texas	+56,473	+5.5B	$83,632	$80,359	+0.5%
South Carolina	+29,214	+4.1B	$88,476	$66,568	+2.6%
North Carolina	+39,118	+3.9B	$80,162	$74,288	+1.1%
Arizona	+17,316	+2.8B	$87,497	$75,593	+1.1%
Tennessee	+24,104	+2.8B	$79,430	$70,076	+1.2%
Nevada	+8,977	+1.5B	$87,255	$74,626	+1.2%
Idaho	+5,811	+1.0B	$81,248	$64,061	+1.5%
New Hampshire	+2,168	+0.8B	$109,318	$88,043	+1.1%
Georgia	+14,671	+0.7B	$70,169	$72,289	+0.2%

The 10 biggest losses, 2022-23

State	Net filers	Net income	Avg income, arriving	Avg income, leaving	Share of stayers' income
California	−100,397	−11.9B	$95,523	$102,120	−0.7%
New York	−71,987	−9.9B	$94,202	$105,983	−1.1%
Illinois	−28,609	−6.0B	$78,820	$104,443	−1.2%
Massachusetts	−15,378	−4.0B	$89,890	$116,609	−1.1%
New Jersey	−19,370	−2.6B	$102,190	$106,727	−0.6%
Pennsylvania	−12,095	−2.2B	$76,366	$85,642	−0.4%
Maryland	−13,628	−1.8B	$80,821	$88,251	−0.7%
Ohio	−7,994	−1.6B	$67,237	$78,108	−0.4%
Minnesota	−5,106	−1.5B	$70,476	$89,425	−0.6%
Michigan	−8,770	−1.0B	$74,145	$77,943	−0.3%

Net filers counts tax returns, so a married couple filing jointly is one. Moves to and from other countries are left out. Net income is in billions of dollars.

Two things jump out. First, in most of the losing states the people leaving had higher average incomes than the people arriving: about $26,000 more in Massachusetts and Illinois, and about $12,000 more in New York. Second, the winners are not all low-tax magnets in the way people assume. North Carolina, South Carolina and Arizona all have income taxes, and all three gained more income than Nevada, which has none.

02Twelve Years Pointing the Same Way

The direction has not changed once in twelve years for the big five. Florida and Texas gained income from movers every year, and New York and Illinois lost it every year. California was roughly even in 2011-12 and has lost income every year since. What changed was the size. The flows grew through the 2010s, with some ups and downs, jumped in the two pandemic years, when remote work was one likely contributor, letting some people take a coastal salary somewhere cheaper, and eased in 2022-23. Even after easing, Florida's gain and California's loss were still larger than in any year before the pandemic.

Net adjusted gross income gained or lost through moves to and from other states, by IRS year pair, in billions of dollars of each year. Hover over a point for its value.

Over the whole twelve years, Florida gained $224 billion in income from movers, more than Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina and Nevada combined. New York lost $125 billion and California $114 billion. Texas gained far less income than Florida over the period but nearly as many filers, which says something about who is moving there, as the next section shows.

Biggest gains, 2011-12 to 2022-23

State	Net income, 12 years	Net filers, 12 years
Florida	+223.7B	+843,197
Texas	+62.8B	+703,625
Arizona	+33.5B	+290,700
North Carolina	+33.5B	+331,873
South Carolina	+32.8B	+251,476
Nevada	+23.9B	+159,918
Tennessee	+23.1B	+209,565
Colorado	+18.9B	+191,582
Idaho	+12.1B	+90,225
Washington	+11.3B	+189,541

Biggest losses, 2011-12 to 2022-23

State	Net income, 12 years	Net filers, 12 years
New York	−124.6B	−981,015
California	−114.1B	−775,858
Illinois	−72.0B	−491,672
New Jersey	−35.7B	−234,232
Massachusetts	−24.3B	−178,164
Maryland	−19.9B	−115,579
Pennsylvania	−19.4B	−144,924
Ohio	−18.1B	−117,204
Virginia	−15.6B	−56,950
Connecticut	−15.0B	−93,109

Sums of the twelve yearly figures, in dollars of each year. A filer who moved twice in the period is counted twice. These totals sum annual net income flows; they are not estimates of added GDP, state tax revenue or the income those movers continue earning today.

03Florida and Texas Win Differently

Florida and Texas get mentioned in the same breath, but the IRS data shows two different kinds of migration. In 2022-23, Texas actually gained slightly more filers than Florida did, about 56,500 against 55,300. Florida gained almost four times as much income, $20.6 billion against $5.5 billion.

The difference is who arrives. The average filer moving to Florida reported $122,539 of income, about $46,000 more than the average filer leaving it. In the IRS's age and income tables, Florida's net gain of filers with $200,000 or more of income was about 21,900, and those arrivals reported $26.0 billion of income against $9.0 billion for the same group leaving. Texas's arrivals averaged $83,632, only about $3,300 more than its leavers.

Age tells the same story. Florida's biggest net gain was among filers aged 55 to 64, an age when many people are at or near their peak earnings. It gained fewer filers aged 65 and older than that, and few under 35. Texas is the reverse: its biggest gains were among filers aged 26 to 34, and it gained relatively few over 55. Florida gains more reported income; Texas's gains skew younger.

Net filers, by age, 2022-23	Under 26	26-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Florida	+934	+4,192	+9,507	+11,326	+20,514	+8,422
Texas	+11,134	+18,623	+12,676	+5,496	+2,729	+4,125
California	−10,673	−21,431	−22,707	−14,976	−18,501	−15,536
New York	+7,920	−20,613	−23,076	−12,593	−12,635	−13,485
Illinois	−3,646	−5,590	−4,657	−4,233	−5,570	−5,318

Age of the primary taxpayer. These IRS tables include moves to and from other countries and leave out returns with negative income, so the totals differ a little from the rest of this article.

California loses filers at every age and at every income level in the same tables. New York is the interesting exception: it still gains young filers under 26, and then loses every older group. One possible reading, which these state-level tables cannot confirm, is the familiar pattern of young people arriving for first jobs and older ones leaving for more space.

04The Routes That Move the Most Money

The single biggest flow of income between two states in 2022-23 was New York to Florida, $5.8 billion. Second was New York to New Jersey, a move many people make without changing jobs. California to Texas was the busiest route by number of filers, about 44,400 returns.

The averages show who takes each road. Filers moving from Illinois to Florida reported an average of $223,120, and from Massachusetts to Florida $209,015, both far above the average American return. Those two routes alone carried almost $6 billion of income to Florida. Plenty of people move the other way, too: the 18,440 filers who moved from New York to California averaged more than the 20,595 who went from California to New York.

From	To	Filers	Income	Average per filer
New York	Florida	43,187	$5.8B	$133,218
New York	New Jersey	43,699	$5.1B	$116,966
California	Texas	44,417	$4.8B	$107,273
Illinois	Florida	14,834	$3.3B	$223,120
New Jersey	New York	26,793	$3.0B	$110,796
New Jersey	Florida	20,113	$3.0B	$147,067
New York	California	18,440	$2.8B	$153,927
California	New York	20,595	$2.8B	$137,456
California	Washington	24,625	$2.7B	$111,507
California	Nevada	26,210	$2.7B	$102,572
California	Florida	20,241	$2.6B	$130,398
Massachusetts	Florida	12,159	$2.5B	$209,015

The 12 largest state-to-state routes by income reported in the year after the move, 2022-23. Every route, including counties, is on the income migration map.

05Do Taxes Explain It?

The pattern is consistent with taxes playing a role, but these figures cannot isolate their effect. Taken together, the nine states without a broad income tax on wages (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming) recorded a net income gain from movers in every year examined, about $350 billion over the twelve years. New Hampshire taxed interest and dividends until 2025 and Washington added a tax on capital gains in 2022, but neither taxes wages.

$122011-
12

$172012-
13

$192013-
14

$182014-
15

$242015-
16

$252016-
17

$252017-
18

$272018-
19

$382019-
20

$612020-
21

$542021-
22

$312022-
23

Combined net income gained through interstate moves by the nine states without a broad wage income tax, by IRS year pair, in billions of dollars of each year.

But taxes are not the whole story, and the IRS data cannot say why anyone moved. Housing costs, jobs, weather, family and retirement all play a part, and they push in the same direction as taxes for many of these states. Three of the strongest winners, North Carolina, South Carolina and Arizona, have income taxes. Two of the no-tax states lost income in 2022-23: Alaska, and Washington, which went from a steady gainer through the 2010s to small losses in 2021-22 and 2022-23. That turn came around the time it adopted its capital gains tax, but the timing alone does not show the tax caused it; plenty else was changing in those pandemic years.

If you are weighing a move yourself, the no-income-tax state move calculator works through the taxes, housing and other costs, the cost-of-living salary calculator shows what you would need to earn somewhere else, and the state millionaire surtaxes page covers the new top-end taxes some states have added.

06What the Numbers Cannot Tell You

How to read IRS migration data

It counts tax filers, not people. Only returns that could be matched in both years are included, so people who do not file, file late or file as a dependent are missing. A joint return counts once.
The address is a mailing address. The IRS warns that it may not be where someone actually lives, so a few moves are missed and a few non-moves are counted.
Income is from the return filed after the move. The figures use adjusted gross income from the second year's return, so the 2022-23 numbers are 2022 income, part of which may have been earned before the move.
Income is not wealth. The data shows reported income, not the savings and property people take with them, and a retiree with large assets can report modest income.
The dollars are not adjusted for inflation, which flatters the later years a little.
The method changed in 2022-23. The IRS updated how it matches returns, adding about 5% more of them, so the latest year is not perfectly comparable with earlier ones.

None of that changes the direction of the flows, which has been the same for twelve years and has shown up through two very different economies. The income migration map has every state, county and route back to 2011-12, and will pick up the next year of IRS data when it is published.