Last week we showed you the top five losers in the migration of adjusted gross income for 2022 (the latest year available).  Those five states lost a total of over $57 billion dollars.  And where did that money go?  Well, overwhelmingly to Florida which saw an influx of over $36 billion. The other four states (Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and North Carolina) combined received over $24 billion in increased income from taxpayers moving to those states. Large numbers of taxpayers have been moving to these states at least since 2012.  

To learn more about where your state ranks in net migration of AGI, taxpayers, and exemptions, go to Data-Z.org. 

The IRS Migration of Adjusted Gross Income data reflects the net amount of taxable income a state gains or loses due to interstate migration. The amounts given here are derived by calculating the difference between the adjusted gross income (AGI) associated with taxpayers entering the state and the AGI associated with taxpayers leaving the state. 

According to the IRS, "Migration data for the United States are based on year-to-year address changes reported on individual income tax returns filed with the IRS. They present migration patterns by State or by county for the entire United States and are available for inflows—the number of new residents who moved to a State or county and where they migrated from, and outflows—the number of residents leaving a State or county and where they went." SOI Tax Stats - Migration Data  The IRS data includes the total amount of adjusted gross income on those returns.  READ MORE

What do California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York have in common?  Well, according to the latest IRS tax migration data, those five states all rank at the bottom of the list for losing the most taxpayers, the most adjusted gross income (AGI), and the most AGI per taxpayer.  Since 2012 all of these states have lost millions of income dollars through the outmigration of taxpayers.

And where did those taxpayers go?  Mainly to Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina.  The average net migration of AGI for all 50 states was just under $30 million, while the average outmigration of dollars for the bottom five was $11.5 billion. California alone lost over $24 billion. 

To learn more about where your state ranks in net migration of AGI, taxpayers, and exemptions, go to Data-Z.org.    READ MORE

In 2023 the average state GDP per capita ranged from $214,285 in Washington. D.C., to a low of $30,105 in Mississippi, with a 50-state average of $64,760.  The chart below leaves out D.C. because it is such an outlier.  New York has the second highest per capita GDP while West Virginia has the second lowest.  Since 2014 per capita GDP in the states has increased an average of 13 percent.  Check out your state on Data-Z.org.    READ MORE

"State Government Spending as Percent of GDP" shows the percentage of a state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that comprises a state government's total spending. This figure is useful for comparison of state spending levels, although each state faces unique economic circumstances.  For 2022 the states with the lowest percentage were Georgia, Texas, Florida, Nebraska and Colorado.  Three of these states, Florida, Nebraska and Colorado also have Taxpayer Surpluses in TIA's Financial State of the States.  READ MORE

To encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information, Truth in Accounting created a Transparency Score for financial reporting. We score each government’s annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) on eight criteria.  For 2022, two states were tied with the best score: New York and Wyoming with a score of 86.  The two worst states were Illinois and Georgia, with scores of 42 and 46 respectively.  The average score for all the states was 72.

To read more about how the scores are calculated see https://www.data-z.org/glossary/detail/transparency-score.  The entire report can be found here:  Financial Transparency Score 2024.

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According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, for the last quarter of 2023 average student debt per capita in the United States was $5635.  The District of Columbia far surpassed all the other states with an average student debt per capita of $12,900!  The next highest student debt per capita averages were found in Maryland and Georgia at over $7,000. The states with the lowest student debt per capita were Wyoming, Hawaii, and New Mexico.  Should taxpayers in those states subsidize people in states with higher student debt per capita?  READ MORE

TIA's newest Financial State of the Cities came out on February 15, 2024.  This comprehensive analysis of the most populous U.S. cities includes the most up-to-date city finance and pension data, trends across the cities, and key findings. The report is based on each city's audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and retirement plans’ reports.   READ MORE

For 2022 the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of local governments in all the states.  As to be expected the smallest states had the fewest local governments.  However, the states with the most local government units were not necessarily the largest.  Illinois led the pack with  6930 units which was almost 1400 more than Texas (5533) which has nearly three times Illinois's population, and was over three times the average number of local government units (1781) for the entire country.  READ MORE

For students graduating soon, it might be worth looking at the median income for people with a bachelor's degree only in different cities.  In 2022, the highest median income of the population aged 25 or older in the city whose highest degree attained is a bachelor’s degree was in San Francisco at  $106,552.  That is much higher than in other major cities, such as Chicago ($72,970), New York ($73,669) and Dallas ($76,127), and the national average of $64,572.   For information about median earnings for men and women by education in the 75 largest cities check out our interactive database at Data.Z.org. 

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New Jersey has ranked 50th (dead last) in TIA's Financial State of the States Ranking for the last nine years. That means it had the worst Taxpayer Burden of all the states.  It garnered that same ranking on the Tax Foundation's Business Tax Climate Ranking.  Nevertheless, New Jersey ranked 43rd in net migration per 1000 citizens, which means only six other states lost more citizens per 1000. New Jersey did rank number one in some statistics, namely:  the highest revenue from property taxes and the highest percent of outbound moving shipments as reported by United Van Lines.  Are these things connected?  You decide!  READ MORE