By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
Illinois, New York and California continued their streak as the nation’s biggest losers of residents and their wealth to other states, according to a Wirepoints analysis of newly-released 2022 Filing Year Internal Revenue Service (IRS) migration data.
North Carolina, Texas and Florida remained the nation’s big winners.
Florida, the nation’s usual winner, gained the most net people, 245,000, and the most net Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), $36 billion. Texas followed with a net gain of 181,000 people and $10.1 billion in AGI. North Carolina was in third with a gain of nearly 83,00 people and $4.6 billion in AGI.
In contrast, states like California, New York and Illinois once again experienced the nation’s biggest losses. California lost more people than any other state, with 307,000 net movers taking $23.8 billion to other states.
New York lost a net of more than 222,000 people and $14.1 billion, while Illinois bled 87,000 net residents and $9.8 billion.
To see the migration numbers for all 50-states, see appendix below.
The IRS migration report provides hard, indisputable data on the movement of tax-filing Americans between states. The agency reviews tax returns annually to track when and where tax filers and their dependents move. It also aggregates the ages, income brackets and adjusted gross incomes of filers.
This latest IRS state-by-state migration data compares data from Filing Year 2022 vs Filing Year 2021, which corresponds to tax returns and income that was earned in calendar years 2021 and 2020, respectively. Nevertheless, for ease of reporting, news media refers to this latest data as 2022.
Winners and losers
When Americans move, they take their earning power with them, which results in a large amount of incomes moving in and out of the 50 states.
Big winner Florida attracted over $62.4 billion in Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from new residents that moved into Florida. On the flip side, Florida lost $26.4 billion in AGI from the people who left. On net, Florida came out ahead with $36 billion in net new AGI. That was a total gain of 4.5% on the state’s total 2021 AGI base ($792 billion).
On the losing side, California suffered the worst outflow of money of any state. The state lost a net $23.8 billion in income, or 1.5% of its AGI, as far more people moved out than moved in.
The 50-state graphic below provides a clear indicator of what regions American taxpayers are moving to and moving from. The South and Mountain state regions are clear winners. The West Coast, Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states are losers, with Illinois a notable standout.
The competition for people matters
Florida shows the benefit of being a winning state. Not only are far more people flowing into Florida, but those who moved in earned far more than those who left. Incoming residents earned an average of $156,700, while those moving out earned $96,800…a $60,000 difference.
In contrast, Illinois, one of the nation's big losers, shows just how damaging being an “exit” state can be – especially when a state starts to lose its wealthier residents and they are only partially replaced by people who make less.
The Illinoisans who most recently fled earned, on average, about $124,000, while those who came into Illinois made just $86,000. That $38,000 difference is one of the biggest gaps since at least 2010, based on Wirepoints’ analysis of the IRS data.
******************
If America’s big states are any indication, it’s the better managed, less expensive states that are winning out over the government-centric, high-cost states. It’s a pattern that’s held for many years…and the cumulative result is already having a profound impact on everything from congressional representation to business relocations.
Appendix
Read more from Wirepoints:
- When it comes to population growth, there is no greater contrast than Illinois and Florida
- New Census data: 75% of Illinois cities shrank last year, Chicago population drop nation’s 3rd-worst
- If you’re shot, robbed or assaulted in Chicago, there’s a 50/50 chance there’ll be no police to respond to your 911 call
- Red states, blue cities: Who’s to blame for America’s homicide crisis – Wirepoints Special Report
- Chicago, New Orleans were the nation’s murder capitals in 2022 – A Wirepoints survey of America’s 75 largest cities
A mess of uncertainty and litigation is sure to follow.
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
CARNIVAL BARKERS!!!!!! Nothing to see here. Move along. All lies, dammed lies and statistics!!!!
This nation has irreconcilable differences. Approximately half the population hates and distrusts the other half. Time to start talking divorce. An amicable split could involve States mutually agreeing about dividing up assets (people and geographical resources). People must choose whether to become citizen of New America Red, or New America Blue. New Americas’ immigration laws might differ from one another. New Americas could interact economically, ‘sharing custody of the children’ of America Original Version, as hammered out in the marriage dissolution agreement. It might help pre-split America to prepare a worksheet to fill out, to determine where most America Original… Read more »
This would be horrible, it would like when the British split India into muslim and hindu countries, and 20,000,000 were displaced literally overnight, as sectarian violence slaughtered up to two million people, as communities felt it was OK to kill and maim their community members of the other tribe. Things would get really bad here, as roving bands of blue state gangs would fan out into the few remaining red areas in Cook County – like Orland, Palos, Barrington, Harwood, and start violence, and there would be no repercussions or response from leadership. Toni Preckwinkle would make statements like “red… Read more »
Wonder how many of these 87k people are now being audited by the state. It’s bad enough living here and having the state withhold your property tax refund for three months because they couldn’t verify the home I’ve lived in for the past 20+ years. Can’t wait till I can leave!
It’s so typical of Wire Points to drum up move out take my ball and leave stories after Biden gets curb stomped. Wire Points always shoots down momentum. Let’s talk about Johnson’s 10%, the migration disaster, and the homeless camps all over the city. What we, as a strong majority, going to do about them? When people quit letting sites like Wire Points tell them how to posture and think, positive change will happen.
Is that you Dave Hardy? Biden getting “curb stomped” doesn’t mean the voters of Illinois will change their voting habits. I do like your positive attitude though.
You are oblivious to the fact that you have destroyed the quality of life for so many people. No one has some more out of state real estate than the public sector unions.
Thank you, we helped SC to #3 and #4 in those charts. Plus our money goes a lot further in SC than IL
At 56, I was a lifelong IL resident and left for TN last August. Best move I ever made!
Welcome to Tennessee. Did you feel the stress melt away as you moved beyond the Illinois border? Now, like me, you can read WP and laugh at the insanity instead of getting angry.
Soon the majority of citizens living in IL will be state govt employees. When they retire and move to more tax friendly states there will be a day of reckoning in regards to their golden parachute pensions. So glad my kids left.
All anyone can do is flee for safety from ‘the other side”.
Each side believes the other to be narcissistic dishonest gaslighting condescending self-interested bigoted sociopaths.
Logic indicates the only rational response is to separate oneself from those one believes to be an existential threat to one’s own safety and a threat to uniform application of American law.
The friend of my enemy is my enemy. Avoid your FOEnemy.
Phase 2 of the migration away from Leftist/ Marxist Democrat states is Biden’s illegal immigrant wave moving into these Blue States for the taxpayer funded handouts. Phase 3 will be when states like Arkansas abolish their income tax, creating a new haven for freedom loving and Constitution abiding taxpayers to migrate into. A generation from now you may not recognize IL as much of the state is hollowed out and ‘Urban Prairie’ will become more prevalent.
Phase two is we organize and kick their ass. These people are parasites.
These findings should be headlines on every major newspaper in the state, especially the Trib, Times, and Crains
Those haven’t been newspapers for a long time now.
Now comes the Democrats praising how great things are in IL and claiming MAGA disinformation.
Pritzker will remind his lunatic base that abortion upto birth in IL is the law of the land thanks to him and Democrats. That’s all that matters.
“Up to birth”??? No. Here in the free state of Illinois you can strangle that baby, er…..fetus, with the still attached umbilical cord!!!Reproductive Freedom!!!! WOMAN POWER!!! Keep your hands off my body!!!
This is another highly informative article from WP where a picture is worth a thousand words. I especially like the net AGI gained/lost charts, updated versions of which would even be more telling given the massive influx of migrants having arrived and still arriving. Unfortunately, this type of information almost never sees the light of day among the IL leftist crowd.
Pritzker will completely ignore the science here because he doesn’t like it. Tennessee reaps the benefit of the government overreach in Illinois. Same old story.
Carnival barkers, remember? I bought a house in Franklin County, assessed value is $300K, tax last year was about $1700. I’m 18 miles from the Alabama state line as the crow flies.
You chose wisely. Congratulations on your move.
This is here to stay; Florida and Texas are growing because of how business and resident favorable treatment. Public Sector Unions have not destroyed them yet. Taxes are fair and reasonable and the states still have plenty of money. Illinois has some of the highest and is dead A$$ Broke.