New interstate migration report shows Americans are still moving from high to low tax states. New interstate migration report shows Americans are still moving from high to low tax states.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual report on state-to-state migration, which looks at how population changed from July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. In addition to showing national population growth of 1.8 million people, which amounts to a 0.5 percent increase, the new Census documents interstate migration patterns. 

Among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., following ten experienced the greatest population growth last year as a result of domestic net-migration: 

  1. South Carolina
  2. Idaho 
  3. North Carolina
  4. Delaware
  5. Tennessee
  6. Montana
  7. Maine
  8. Arkansas
  9. New Hampshire
  10. Nevada

Meanwhile, the following ten experienced the greatest population loss last year as a result of domestic net-migration: 

  1. New York
  2. Hawaii
  3. Alaska
  4. District of Columbia
  5. California
  6. Massachusetts
  7. New Jersey
  8. Illinois
  9. Louisiana
  10. Colorado

Some noteworthy trends stand out when comparing the states that gained the most new residents (as a percentage of state population) over the past year as a result of net domestic migration with those that lost the most people. The following breakdown shows that the top states gaining population through net domestic migration have much lower tax rates and lower overall tax burdens than the top 10 losers. What’s more, most of the top 10 gainers have a right-to-work law, while only one of the top 10 losers has such a law on the books protecting workers from being forced to join a union as a condition of employment.  


Avg. Top Marginal PIT RateAvg. State & Local Tax Collections Per CapitaAvg. CIT RateRight-to-Work Status
Top 10 Gainers3.92%$5,847.605.50%60%
Top 10 Losers8.80%$9,401.107.90%10%

In Summary: 

  • The top 10 net domestic migration gainers had an average top marginal income tax rate that is less than half of that for the top 10 net domestic migration losers. 
  • The average corporate tax rate for the top 10 losers is 43 percent higher than the average rate for the top 10 gainers. 
  • Average per capita state and local tax collections among the top 10 losers is 60 percent higher than the average for the top 10 gainers.
  • Six of the top 10 gainer states are a Right-to-Work state, whereas only one of the top ten loser states has a Right-to-Work law on the books. 

Americans have been voting with their feet for many years, with population shifting from high-tax blue states to low-tax red states. The new state-to-state migration data released by the Census Bureau on January 27 shows this trend is continuing unabated.