Florida gained $20.7B in 2023 as high earners fled high-tax New York, new IRS data shows

High earners left New York and California for low-tax states in 2023. Realtor.com tracked the billions lost and gained by each state using the latest IRS data

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The pandemic did not just move people. It moved money. When millions of Americans decamped from coastal cities for sunnier, cheaper, or roomier places during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, they carried their incomes with them. And the cumulative effect on state-level wealth was staggering.

The winners were lower-tax, faster-growing states in the South and Mountain West. The losers were the states those movers left behind — California, New York, and Illinois chief among them. What the new data makes clear is the sheer magnitude of those transfers, and how concentrated they were at the top of the income spectrum.

Housing affordability sits at the center of the story. States that invested in new construction kept prices within reach, and states that did not found themselves unable to retain residents. The result is a widening divergence in state-level economic vitality that will shape housing markets, tax bases, and public services for years to come.

Realtor.com analyzed the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service to determine the five states that captured the most net income through interstate moves in 2023 — and the five that lost out most.

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Net change: $20.7 billion

No state comes close to Florida's haul. Its $20.7 billion net gain in 2023 was nearly four times what second-place Texas managed — and the gap was not about volume. Florida attracted more filers than it lost, but the real story is about who came. Arrivals reported average incomes roughly 60% higher than those who left, giving Florida a quality-of-mover advantage that no other state matched. Gay Cororaton, chief economist for Miami Realtors, told Realtor.com that the average income of people who moved to Florida from another state was the highest of any U.S. state in 2023. The concentration of wealth at the top was striking: Filers earning $200,000 or more accounted for about 82% of the state's total net gain, proving Florida's tax-free status resonated most powerfully with high earners who had the most to save by leaving states with steep income taxes.

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Net change: $5.3 billion

Texas attracted more movers than any state except Florida — roughly 310,000........

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