Do States Gain Richer or Poorer Movers? (2022 to 2023)
Some states swap departing households for higher-earning arrivals; others trade down. The income gradient of migration, state by state.
Key findings
- Migration reshuffles income, and states do not all trade evenly. In Florida, households arriving from other states reported an average AGI of $122,539, versus $76,134 for households leaving, a gap of $46,406 per household in the state's favor.
- At the other end, District of Columbia saw arrivers report $86,003 against $117,158 for leavers, a gradient of $-31,154 per household working against it.
- A positive gradient means a state is swapping lower-income departures for higher-income arrivals; a negative one means the opposite, regardless of whether the state gains or loses people overall.
- This is about income per mover, so a state can grow in population yet still trade down in income per household, or shrink yet trade up.
Beyond how many people move, there is a subtler question: are the households arriving in a state richer or poorer than the ones leaving? This takes the 2022 to 2023 state migration file and, for every state, compares the average adjusted gross income of inbound interstate households against outbound ones. A positive gap means the state is trading up, replacing departing households with higher-earning arrivals; a negative gap means it is trading down. These are exact tabulations of tax returns; AGI is reported income per household, in dollars.
Income per mover, in versus out
Trading up or trading down
| Average AGI of arrivers minus leavers ($ per household) | Arriver minus leaver average AGI ($ per household) |
|---|---|
| Florida | $46,406 |
| South Carolina | $21,908 |
| New Hampshire | $21,275 |
| Idaho | $17,187 |
| Montana | $13,946 |
| Nevada | $12,628 |
| Delaware | $11,933 |
| Arizona | $11,904 |
| Maine | $11,343 |
| Wyoming | $10,729 |
| Alaska | $-7,617 |
| Pennsylvania | $-9,276 |
| North Dakota | $-10,207 |
| Washington | $-10,232 |
| Ohio | $-10,871 |
| New York | $-11,781 |
| Minnesota | $-18,949 |
| Illinois | $-25,623 |
| Massachusetts | $-26,719 |
| District of Columbia | $-31,154 |
All states
| State | Avg AGI, arrivers | Avg AGI, leavers | Gradient (in minus out) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | $122,539 | $76,134 | +$46,406 |
| South Carolina | $88,476 | $66,568 | +$21,908 |
| New Hampshire | $109,318 | $88,043 | +$21,275 |
| Idaho | $81,248 | $64,061 | +$17,187 |
| Montana | $79,110 | $65,164 | +$13,946 |
| Nevada | $87,255 | $74,626 | +$12,628 |
| Delaware | $88,435 | $76,502 | +$11,933 |
| Arizona | $87,497 | $75,593 | +$11,904 |
| Maine | $85,446 | $74,103 | +$11,343 |
| Wyoming | $79,888 | $69,159 | +$10,729 |
| Vermont | $82,099 | $71,936 | +$10,163 |
| South Dakota | $73,743 | $63,892 | +$9,851 |
| Tennessee | $79,430 | $70,076 | +$9,354 |
| Hawaii | $78,083 | $70,863 | +$7,219 |
| North Carolina | $80,162 | $74,288 | +$5,874 |
| Utah | $80,129 | $74,887 | +$5,242 |
| Arkansas | $62,982 | $59,337 | +$3,645 |
| Mississippi | $56,878 | $53,551 | +$3,327 |
| Texas | $83,632 | $80,359 | +$3,273 |
| Connecticut | $110,822 | $107,674 | +$3,148 |
| Rhode Island | $82,595 | $79,934 | +$2,661 |
| Alabama | $66,467 | $63,867 | +$2,600 |
| Oklahoma | $59,003 | $60,448 | $-1,446 |
| Colorado | $82,532 | $84,540 | $-2,008 |
| Wisconsin | $72,373 | $74,386 | $-2,013 |
| West Virginia | $58,484 | $60,514 | $-2,030 |
| Georgia | $70,169 | $72,288 | $-2,119 |
| New Mexico | $66,102 | $68,670 | $-2,568 |
| Iowa | $61,608 | $64,883 | $-3,275 |
| Indiana | $64,349 | $67,814 | $-3,465 |
| Kansas | $64,708 | $68,187 | $-3,479 |
| Michigan | $74,145 | $77,943 | $-3,798 |
| Louisiana | $58,189 | $62,643 | $-4,454 |
| New Jersey | $102,190 | $106,727 | $-4,538 |
| Kentucky | $60,483 | $65,674 | $-5,191 |
| Missouri | $65,825 | $71,544 | $-5,719 |
| California | $95,523 | $102,120 | $-6,596 |
| Nebraska | $59,868 | $66,473 | $-6,605 |
| Virginia | $82,327 | $89,328 | $-7,001 |
| Oregon | $74,782 | $82,124 | $-7,341 |
| Maryland | $80,821 | $88,251 | $-7,430 |
| Alaska | $63,293 | $70,910 | $-7,617 |
| Pennsylvania | $76,366 | $85,642 | $-9,276 |
| North Dakota | $54,596 | $64,804 | $-10,207 |
| Washington | $89,890 | $100,122 | $-10,232 |
| Ohio | $67,237 | $78,108 | $-10,871 |
| New York | $94,202 | $105,983 | $-11,781 |
| Minnesota | $70,476 | $89,425 | $-18,949 |
| Illinois | $78,820 | $104,443 | $-25,623 |
| Massachusetts | $89,890 | $116,609 | $-26,719 |
| District of Columbia | $86,003 | $117,158 | $-31,154 |
Averages are AGI per interstate migrating household (returns). Exact tabulation; no sampling margins of error.
Data Sources & Methodology
The figures on this page are computed directly from the source data below. Narrative text accompanies the figures but never generates them.
IRS Statistics of Income (SOI): Migration and ZIP Code Data
- Vintage:
- 2022 to 2023
- Access:
- BigQuery
- Cadence:
- annual
Tabulations built from individual income tax returns. The migration files count how many returns (roughly households), how many individuals, and how much adjusted gross income moved between every pair of U.S. counties and states from one year to the next. The ZIP Code file reports returns, income, and tax items by ZIP code and income bracket. It is a near-census of tax filers, enabling analysis of where people and their incomes move and how income is distributed geographically.
The IRS Statistics of Income division tabulates these files from individual income tax returns (Form 1040). Migration is inferred from the change in the mailing address between a filer’s return in one year and the next; the ZIP Code file aggregates return and income items by ZIP and by adjusted-gross-income bracket.
These are administrative tabulations covering essentially all tax returns filed, not a probability sample. Statistics are exact counts and totals; there are no sampling weights and no sampling margins of error.
To protect taxpayer privacy, the IRS suppresses or combines small cells (for example county flows below a threshold), and dollar amounts are reported in thousands. Aggregate rows for totals, non-migrants, and foreign flows appear alongside the detailed county and state records.
Migration records carry origin and destination state and county FIPS codes; the ZIP file carries state and ZIP code. Across the files, n1 approximates households (returns), n2 approximates population (individuals), and AGI is in thousands of dollars.
- Only tax filers are covered, so people who do not file (disproportionately the very low income and some elderly) are missing.
- Migration is based on year-to-year address changes on returns and misses moves that are not reflected in filing, as well as late or amended returns.
- Small county-to-county flows are suppressed for privacy, so detailed origin-destination pairs are incomplete at the low end.
- Dollar amounts are in thousands and reflect adjusted gross income as reported, not wealth or spending; the data lags roughly two years.
How these figures were produced
- Estimate type:
- Administrative tabulation (near-census of tax filers)
- Weighting:
- None (not a weighted sample)
Suggested citation
Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, 2022 to 2023 (Migration Data / ZIP Code Data). Analysis by Matt George, itsmattgeorge.com. Retrieved 2026-10-23.