Migration between states

In 2022 to 2023, 27 of the 51 states with a net figure gained tax returns on net from other states, by the IRS’s Statistics of Income.

Tax returns that moved from one state to another, and the exemptions they claim, from the IRS’s Statistics of Income. Returns stand for households; exemptions for persons. Movers, not migrants, and the net is not population change.

Headline figures, 2022 to 2023

51
States and DC in the file: 2022 to 2023; Each has an inflow and an outflow of returns, though a total may be withheld.; 51
With a net figure: 2022 to 2023; Inflow less outflow of returns, where neither total is withheld.; 27
Gained returns on net: 2022 to 2023; More returns moved in from other states than moved out.; 24
Lost returns on net: 2022 to 2023; More returns moved out to other states than moved in.; 0
Net withheld: 2022 to 2023; A total for one of the state’s flows is withheld, so it has no net.

About these figures

States and DC in the file: Each has an inflow and an outflow of returns, though a total may be withheld.
With a net figure: Inflow less outflow of returns, where neither total is withheld.
Gained returns on net: More returns moved in from other states than moved out.
Lost returns on net: More returns moved out to other states than moved in.
Net withheld: A total for one of the state’s flows is withheld, so it has no net.

0 states were even.

What stands out

Five findings. From the IRS state files, each one a row from a query.

Texas gained the most returns on net from other states, +56,473 in 2022 to 2023, against +88,216 returns in 2021 to 2022. Texas →
California lost the most returns on net to other states, −100,397 in 2022 to 2023. California →
27 of the 51 states with a net figure gained returns on net, and 24 lost them, in 2022 to 2023. The ranking →
Texas gained the most exemptions on net from other states, +112,481 in 2022 to 2023. Exemptions stand for persons on the returns that moved. Exemptions in Texas →
In 2021 to 2022, 26 of the 51 states with a net figure gained returns on net. Each filing-year pair is its own period, so the two are not a trend. The periods →

What changed in this release

This is the hub’s first release, retrieved on November 12, 2026: 27 of 51 states, DC included, gained tax returns on net from other states in 2022 to 2023 filing years.

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Trend

No trend is drawn yet. The file holds two filing-year pairs, 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023, and each is its own period. The state trends wait for the older years.

Breakdowns and maps

No state map is drawn. The states ranking is the table, and each state’s page breaks its flows down by measure and by the states they moved between.

Rankings

The states ranked by net returns from other states, for 2022 to 2023, with the states that have no net listed last.

What this data cannot show

Movers, not migrants: a flow is a count of tax returns, or of the exemptions they claim, whose state changed between two filing years. It does not show who left for good, who came back, or how many people lived in each state.
Net is not population change. Births, deaths and movers from abroad are not in a state’s net, and the file records where filers were, not why they moved.
Filers, not the population: many individuals are not required to file, and the file covers the returns that were filed and matched.
Counts of 1 to 10 returns or persons are withheld, and so are the cells the IRS deletes, and a pair of 11 or more is withheld where a total would otherwise give a withheld pair back. A state whose total is dropped has no net, and a withheld figure is never a zero.
A state’s total in the state file is not the sum of its county flows; the pages print the state file’s totals only, and the methodology says why.

The full method: How the migration figures are made.

Everything in this hub

Every page in this topic, by kind.

Rankings1

Each list ordered by one measure, with the figure behind every entry.

Net gain from other states

States51

One page per state and the District of Columbia.

Sources

IRS Statistics of Income migration flows — Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income · Public domain — U.S. Government work · retrieved November 12, 2026

Compiled automatically from IRS Statistics of Income migration flows by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

How to cite this page

Cite the page’s address and the date printed on it, and name Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income as the source of the figures.

American Factbook. “Migration between states.” Updated November 12, 2026. https://americanfactbook.org/migration. Source: IRS Statistics of Income migration flows, https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-migration-data.

Data retrieved November 12, 2026