IRS tax-return data · 2022–2023

Montana Migration: Who Moved In, Who Moved Out

Where people who left Montana 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

35,226

People, from other states, 2022–2023

Moved out

29,894

People, to other states, 2022–2023

Net

+5,332

People: moved in minus moved out

Net income

$500 million

Arrivals’ income minus leavers’, earned in 2022

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing seasons, 35,226 people appear on tax returns that moved into Montana from another state, and 29,894 on returns that moved out. On balance Montana gained 5,332 people to the rest of the country. The households that arrived reported $1.69 billion in income and the ones that left reported $1.19 billion.

Its largest net gain came from California (+2,649), and its largest net loss was to Arizona (−195).

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 Montana went

1Washington2,912
2California2,046
3Texas1,859
4Arizona1,856
5Idaho1,821
6Colorado1,591
7Oregon1,306
8Florida1,217
9Wyoming1,108
10Utah1,039

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

Where new arrivals came from

1California4,695
2Washington4,395
3Colorado2,235
4Texas1,955
5Oregon1,917
6Idaho1,916
7Arizona1,661
8Utah1,188
9Florida1,151
10Wyoming1,120

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

Montana and every other state

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

State	Moved in from	Moved out to	Net
Alabama	242	281	−39
Alaska	449	471	−22
Arizona	1,661	1,856	−195
Arkansas	188	250	−62
California	4,695	2,046	+2,649
Colorado	2,235	1,591	+644
Connecticut	100	73	+27
Delaware	42	24	+18
District of Columbia	41	46	−5
Florida	1,151	1,217	−66
Georgia	559	490	+69
Hawaii	231	206	+25
Idaho	1,916	1,821	+95
Illinois	537	389	+148
Indiana	274	324	−50
Iowa	266	284	−18
Kansas	280	284	−4
Kentucky	164	236	−72
Louisiana	205	190	+15
Maine	136	205	−69
Maryland	198	207	−9
Massachusetts	248	145	+103
Michigan	426	459	−33
Minnesota	851	660	+191
Mississippi	147	157	−10
Missouri	332	451	−119
Nebraska	247	231	+16
Nevada	808	718	+90
New Hampshire	142	80	+62
New Jersey	174	120	+54
New Mexico	319	444	−125
New York	504	407	+97
North Carolina	572	620	−48
North Dakota	845	1,034	−189
Ohio	439	436	+3
Oklahoma	352	417	−65
Oregon	1,917	1,306	+611
Pennsylvania	481	327	+154
Rhode Island	33	21	+12
South Carolina	290	367	−77
South Dakota	379	514	−135
Tennessee	378	506	−128
Texas	1,955	1,859	+96
Utah	1,188	1,039	+149
Vermont	108	97	+11
Virginia	454	402	+52
Washington	4,395	2,912	+1,483
West Virginia	81	91	−10
Wisconsin	471	475	−4
Wyoming	1,120	1,108	+12

Migration between Montana 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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