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Flagship study · IRS Statistics of Income 2022–2023
Where Americans Moved — and the Money That Moved With Them
Every year, the IRS matches tax returns across two filing years and records who moved, where they went, and how much income traveled with them. This study turns that file into a ledger anyone can read: which states gained households and income, which lost them, and what the movers on each route earn. In 2022–2023, 3,966,932 households moved between states.
Headline findings
Texas gained the most households; Florida gained the most money. Texas posted the largest net gain, +56,473 households, ahead of Florida (+55,349), North Carolina (+39,118), South Carolina (+29,214), and Tennessee (+24,104) — all figures on the interstate basis used throughout this study (see the basis note below). California lost −100,397 households, by far the steepest loss, followed by New York (−71,987), Illinois (−28,609), New Jersey (−19,370), and Massachusetts (−15,378).
Florida's win is an income story. Florida gained +$20.65 billion in adjusted gross income from interstate moves — more than 3.7 times the next state, Texas (+$5.54B). The households arriving in Florida report an average AGI of $122,539, while the households leaving average $76,134 — a gap of +$46,405, the largest in the nation. The richest large routes in the data (1,000+ households) point at Florida: Illinois → Florida movers average $223,120, Massachusetts → Florida $209,015, Minnesota → Florida $173,518, and Connecticut → Florida $157,847.
California's loss is volume, not an income collapse per household. California's arrivals average $95,523 against leavers at $102,120 — a modest gap. The state's −$11.92B net AGI follows from the sheer count: 353,260 households left for other states while 252,863 arrived. New York (−$9.89B) and Illinois (−$5.99B) round out the largest income losses. The reverse of Florida's pattern shows up in DC, Massachusetts, and Illinois, where leavers out-earn arrivals by $31,155, $26,719, and $25,623 on average respectively.
Per person, small states punch hardest. Measured per 1,000 residents, South Carolina leads the nation at +5.33 net households — see the per-capita table below. And two of the three biggest routes in America are New York exits (to New Jersey and to Florida); California feeds three of the top ten destinations (Texas, Arizona, Nevada).
The top 20 routes
| # | Route | Households | People | Avg. AGI of movers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California → Texas | 44,417 | 82,481 | $107,273 |
| 2 | New York → New Jersey | 43,699 | 73,471 | $116,966 |
| 3 | New York → Florida | 43,187 | 71,476 | $133,218 |
| 4 | California → Arizona | 28,402 | 47,885 | $87,556 |
| 5 | Florida → Georgia | 28,263 | 50,483 | $65,134 |
| 6 | New Jersey → New York | 26,793 | 38,722 | $110,796 |
| 7 | California → Nevada | 26,210 | 43,801 | $102,572 |
| 8 | Texas → California | 24,970 | 41,232 | $95,486 |
| 9 | California → Washington | 24,625 | 38,093 | $111,507 |
| 10 | Florida → Texas | 24,196 | 41,655 | $70,034 |
| 11 | Georgia → Florida | 23,475 | 40,689 | $91,345 |
| 12 | Florida → New York | 22,011 | 32,133 | $89,835 |
| 13 | New York → Pennsylvania | 20,643 | 35,081 | $70,945 |
| 14 | California → New York | 20,595 | 25,783 | $137,456 |
| 15 | Florida → North Carolina | 20,553 | 34,859 | $77,338 |
| 16 | California → Florida | 20,241 | 34,248 | $130,398 |
| 17 | New Jersey → Florida | 20,113 | 34,761 | $147,067 |
| 18 | Texas → Florida | 20,050 | 35,016 | $91,708 |
| 19 | New Jersey → Pennsylvania | 18,767 | 29,887 | $83,155 |
| 20 | New York → California | 18,440 | 24,798 | $153,927 |
The full top-100 ledger runs to a cutoff of 8,430 households (Georgia → Tennessee at #100). Route cost guides for the top 10 routes — what a move on each route typically involves and what drives the price — start in Route Costs.
Net households, state by state
| State | Net households | Per 1,000 residents | Arrived | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | +56,473 | +1.80 | 307,240 | 250,767 |
| Florida | +55,349 | +2.37 | 354,112 | 298,763 |
| North Carolina | +39,118 | +3.54 | 170,751 | 131,633 |
| South Carolina | +29,214 | +5.33 | 99,779 | 70,565 |
| Tennessee | +24,104 | +3.33 | 113,788 | 89,684 |
| State | Net households | Per 1,000 residents | Arrived | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | -100,397 | -2.55 | 252,863 | 353,260 |
| New York | -71,987 | -3.62 | 192,240 | 264,227 |
| Illinois | -28,609 | -2.25 | 117,297 | 145,906 |
| New Jersey | -19,370 | -2.04 | 107,653 | 127,023 |
| Massachusetts | -15,378 | -2.15 | 83,296 | 98,674 |
Arrival guides for the five biggest gainers — who is arriving, who is leaving, and the income moving each way: Texas · Florida · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee. All 50 state profiles are indexed at State migration profiles.
Per-capita leaders
| State | Net per 1,000 | Net households |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | +5.33 | +29,214 |
| Delaware | +3.85 | +4,054 |
| North Carolina | +3.54 | +39,118 |
| Tennessee | +3.33 | +24,104 |
| Idaho | +2.90 | +5,811 |
| Nevada | +2.75 | +8,977 |
| Montana | +2.72 | +3,096 |
| Maine | +2.61 | +3,671 |
| State | Net per 1,000 | Net households |
|---|---|---|
| New York | -3.62 | -71,987 |
| California | -2.55 | -100,397 |
| Illinois | -2.25 | -28,609 |
| Louisiana | -2.20 | -10,129 |
| Maryland | -2.18 | -13,628 |
Basis note — read the labels
Unless a figure says otherwise, every number in this study is on the interstate basis: moves between two different U.S. states, with foreign migration, same-state movers, and non-migrants excluded. The IRS files also publish a "Total Migration (U.S. + Foreign)" basis, and the two differ. Florida is the clearest example: +55,349 households interstate, +54,902 on the total basis — the 447-household difference is net foreign migration. Texas reads +56,473 interstate and +54,904 total; California −100,397 interstate and −106,205 total. State totals quoted from the raw IRS files in other coverage may use either basis — check which one before comparing.
Methodology
Primary source: IRS Statistics of Income (SOI), U.S. Population Migration Data, 2022–2023 — the newest release published at the time of this study. SOI builds the file by matching individual income tax returns across two filing years and recording address changes. The state-to-state inflow and outflow files agree on all 2,544 interstate routes; MoveNoble's tables are derived from both and cross-checked against each state's file totals.
Definitions. A "household" is one filed tax return (the IRS field n1); "people" are exemptions claimed (n2). Income is adjusted gross income (AGI) as reported; the IRS states AGI in thousands of dollars in its files, and every average here is computed accordingly (total AGI ÷ households). These are tax-filer counts, not a census of every mover — they differ from the Census Bureau's ACS mover estimates, and the two should not be mixed without naming the instrument.
Per-capita rates divide net households by state population from the U.S. Census Bureau's NST-EST2024 state population estimates (resident population at July 1, 2024), expressed per 1,000 residents.
Series break. The IRS enhanced its matching process beginning with the 2022–2023 release, which starts a new series. This study does not splice 2022–2023 figures onto earlier years without flagging that break. Route AGIs summed across routes can differ from the IRS's printed state totals by about $1K on multi-billion totals (source rounding); household counts match exactly.
Known limits. The 2022–2023 package contains no by-age breakdown, so this edition publishes no age cut. Foreign migration is excluded from the profile and route tables except where the basis note states it. County-to-county files ship in the same IRS package and are not used at this stage.
Sources & citing this study
Sources: IRS Statistics of Income, U.S. Population Migration Data 2022–2023 (irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-migration-data); U.S. Census Bureau, NST-EST2024 state population estimates. Suggested citation: MoveNoble, "Where Americans Moved — and the Money That Moved With Them," IRS SOI migration data 2022–2023. The study refreshes in full on each annual IRS release.
From data to dollars
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The study says who travels each route and what they earn. The route ledgers and the calculator turn that into what the move costs — by home size, method, and month.