IRS tax-return data · 2022–2023

District of Columbia Migration: Who Moved In, Who Moved Out

Where people who left the District of Columbia went, where its new arrivals came from, and the income that moved with them. Counted from the addresses on tax returns.

Source data last read October 10, 2026. The IRS publishes one edition a year.

Moved in

41,301

People, from other states, 2022–2023

Moved out

43,869

People, to other states, 2022–2023

Net

−2,568

People: moved in minus moved out

Net income

−$827 million

Arrivals’ income minus leavers’, earned in 2022

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing seasons, 41,301 people appear on tax returns that moved into the District of Columbia from another state, and 43,869 on returns that moved out. On balance the District of Columbia lost 2,568 people to the rest of the country. The households that arrived reported $2.83 billion in income and the ones that left reported $3.65 billion.

Its largest net gain came from Massachusetts (+394), and its largest net loss was to Maryland (−3,814).

What this counts, and what it does not

These are tax returns, not a head count. The IRS compares the address on a return filed in 2022 with the address on the same taxpayer’s return filed in 2023. “People” is the number of individuals listed on those returns.

Anyone who did not file in both years is missing: many students, retirees and low earners with no filing requirement, and anyone whose two returns could not be matched. The real number of people who moved is higher.

The address is a mailing address, which is not always where someone lives, and a move is dated by when the return was filed, not when the truck was loaded.

Income is the adjusted gross income on the second return (earned in 2022), attributed to the state the household moved to. It measures the income of the people who moved, not money a state “lost” or “gained”: much of it is wages from a job that may itself have changed.

Moves to and from other countries, military post offices and the US territories are not included in the totals here, and the IRS withholds any state-to-state flow of fewer than ten returns.

Where people who left District of Columbia went

1Maryland15,055
2Virginia9,007
3New York2,911
4California2,217
5Florida1,645
6Texas1,298
7Pennsylvania1,135
8North Carolina1,120
9Massachusetts1,000
10Illinois751

Top 10 destinations for people leaving the District of Columbia, 2022–2023. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division.

Where new arrivals came from

1Maryland11,241
2Virginia6,216
3New York2,834
4California2,432
5Florida1,873
6Texas1,460
7Pennsylvania1,453
8Massachusetts1,394
9North Carolina1,338
10New Jersey1,036

Top 10 origins of people moving to the District of Columbia, 2022–2023. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division.

District of Columbia and every other state

People moving in each direction, and the difference. A positive net means the District of Columbia gained from that state.

State	Moved in from	Moved out to	Net
Alabama	188	141	+47
Alaska	32	33	−1
Arizona	316	209	+107
Arkansas	85	69	+16
California	2,432	2,217	+215
Colorado	516	638	−122
Connecticut	579	365	+214
Delaware	203	189	+14
Florida	1,873	1,645	+228
Georgia	992	749	+243
Hawaii	140	151	−11
Idaho	60	68	−8
Illinois	941	751	+190
Indiana	266	159	+107
Iowa	157	45	+112
Kansas	115	90	+25
Kentucky	172	89	+83
Louisiana	253	148	+105
Maine	127	124	+3
Maryland	11,241	15,055	−3,814
Massachusetts	1,394	1,000	+394
Michigan	564	389	+175
Minnesota	306	231	+75
Mississippi	105	59	+46
Missouri	223	141	+82
Montana	46	41	+5
Nebraska	65	31	+34
Nevada	145	134	+11
New Hampshire	146	117	+29
New Jersey	1,036	669	+367
New Mexico	97	95	+2
New York	2,834	2,911	−77
North Carolina	1,338	1,120	+218
North Dakota	25	16	+9
Ohio	634	370	+264
Oklahoma	106	101	+5
Oregon	215	211	+4
Pennsylvania	1,453	1,135	+318
Rhode Island	164	110	+54
South Carolina	423	347	+76
South Dakota	38	41	−3
Tennessee	416	281	+135
Texas	1,460	1,298	+162
Utah	120	105	+15
Vermont	105	99	+6
Virginia	6,216	9,007	−2,791
Washington	594	528	+66
West Virginia	114	150	−36
Wisconsin	202	177	+25
Wyoming	29	20	+9

Migration between the District of Columbia and each other state, people on matched tax returns, 2022–2023.

Sources and methods

Every figure on this page comes from one of the datasets below and nowhere else. Nothing is estimated, interpolated or carried over from a previous edition. Where two sources measure something similar, they are reported separately rather than combined, because they are not measuring the same thing.

SOI Tax Stats: Migration Data 2022–2023, state-to-state outflow
Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
Covers
Returns filed in 2022 and 2023, 50 states and DC
Last read
October 10, 2026
The IRS matches each individual income tax return filed in 2022 to the same taxpayer’s return filed in 2023 and compares the addresses. People and income are taken from the second return, so the income is what those households earned in 2022. Amounts are published in thousands of dollars.
Exact file we read Publisher’s page
SOI Tax Stats: Migration Data 2022–2023, state-to-state inflow
Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
Covers
Returns filed in 2022 and 2023, 50 states and DC
Last read
October 10, 2026
The same flows listed by destination instead of origin. We read both files and publish a flow only when the two agree on it, which they do for every pair. The publisher’s page linked here is the IRS users guide, which defines every term used on this page.
Exact file we read Publisher’s page

Found something wrong? Our corrections log records every fix we have made, and we would rather hear about an error than have it stand.

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