IRS tax-return data · 2022–2023

Maine Migration: Who Moved In, Who Moved Out

Where people who left Maine 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

31,675

People, from other states, 2022–2023

Moved out

25,178

People, to other states, 2022–2023

Net

+6,497

People: moved in minus moved out

Net income

$502 million

Arrivals’ income minus leavers’, earned in 2022

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing seasons, 31,675 people appear on tax returns that moved into Maine from another state, and 25,178 on returns that moved out. On balance Maine gained 6,497 people to the rest of the country. The households that arrived reported $1.73 billion in income and the ones that left reported $1.23 billion.

Its largest net gain came from Massachusetts (+1,956), and its largest net loss was to North Carolina (−295).

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 Maine went

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

Where new arrivals came from

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

Maine and every other state

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

State	Moved in from	Moved out to	Net
Alabama	171	191	−20
Alaska	173	142	+31
Arizona	528	474	+54
Arkansas	108	75	+33
California	1,440	904	+536
Colorado	733	497	+236
Connecticut	1,213	739	+474
Delaware	106	89	+17
District of Columbia	124	127	−3
Florida	3,280	3,483	−203
Georgia	500	514	−14
Hawaii	125	142	−17
Idaho	164	103	+61
Illinois	325	289	+36
Indiana	224	171	+53
Iowa	91	93	−2
Kansas	133	121	+12
Kentucky	194	217	−23
Louisiana	147	115	+32
Maryland	505	332	+173
Massachusetts	4,870	2,914	+1,956
Michigan	276	297	−21
Minnesota	217	242	−25
Mississippi	72	83	−11
Missouri	237	211	+26
Montana	205	136	+69
Nebraska	79	64	+15
Nevada	211	137	+74
New Hampshire	3,878	2,827	+1,051
New Jersey	750	406	+344
New Mexico	160	112	+48
New York	2,018	1,273	+745
North Carolina	877	1,172	−295
North Dakota	44	63	−19
Ohio	484	425	+59
Oklahoma	139	132	+7
Oregon	308	210	+98
Pennsylvania	945	695	+250
Rhode Island	552	317	+235
South Carolina	499	718	−219
South Dakota	49	72	−23
Tennessee	406	478	−72
Texas	1,327	1,043	+284
Utah	267	192	+75
Vermont	698	511	+187
Virginia	958	911	+47
Washington	516	456	+60
West Virginia	86	57	+29
Wisconsin	192	173	+19
Wyoming	71	33	+38

Migration between Maine 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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