IRS tax-return data · 2022–2023

North Carolina Migration: Who Moved In, Who Moved Out

Where people who left North Carolina 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

295,243

People, from other states, 2022–2023

Moved out

226,135

People, to other states, 2022–2023

Net

+69,108

People: moved in minus moved out

Net income

$3.91 billion

Arrivals’ income minus leavers’, earned in 2022

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing seasons, 295,243 people appear on tax returns that moved into North Carolina from another state, and 226,135 on returns that moved out. On balance North Carolina gained 69,108 people to the rest of the country. The households that arrived reported $13.7 billion in income and the ones that left reported $9.78 billion.

Its largest net gain came from New York (+13,219), and its largest net loss was to South Carolina (−6,928).

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 North Carolina went

1South Carolina32,282
2Florida25,024
3Virginia22,403
4Texas15,133
5Georgia15,003
6California10,665
7New York10,329
8Tennessee8,701
9Pennsylvania7,203
10Ohio5,803

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

Where new arrivals came from

1Florida34,859
2Virginia26,310
3South Carolina25,354
4New York23,548
5California18,066
6Texas15,847
7Georgia15,632
8Pennsylvania11,748
9New Jersey10,675
10Maryland8,902

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

North Carolina and every other state

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

State	Moved in from	Moved out to	Net
Alabama	3,351	3,194	+157
Alaska	1,037	903	+134
Arizona	5,167	3,062	+2,105
Arkansas	1,158	1,175	−17
California	18,066	10,665	+7,401
Colorado	5,995	5,088	+907
Connecticut	4,184	1,802	+2,382
Delaware	1,205	840	+365
District of Columbia	1,120	1,338	−218
Florida	34,859	25,024	+9,835
Georgia	15,632	15,003	+629
Hawaii	1,763	1,389	+374
Idaho	909	746	+163
Illinois	6,404	3,802	+2,602
Indiana	3,520	2,737	+783
Iowa	1,374	881	+493
Kansas	1,674	1,400	+274
Kentucky	2,755	2,740	+15
Louisiana	2,304	1,777	+527
Maine	1,172	877	+295
Maryland	8,902	5,771	+3,131
Massachusetts	5,780	3,234	+2,546
Michigan	5,280	3,627	+1,653
Minnesota	2,748	1,512	+1,236
Mississippi	1,567	1,102	+465
Missouri	2,830	2,435	+395
Montana	620	572	+48
Nebraska	848	619	+229
Nevada	1,789	1,393	+396
New Hampshire	1,637	845	+792
New Jersey	10,675	4,135	+6,540
New Mexico	1,002	681	+321
New York	23,548	10,329	+13,219
North Dakota	385	275	+110
Ohio	8,388	5,803	+2,585
Oklahoma	1,785	1,486	+299
Oregon	1,769	1,294	+475
Pennsylvania	11,748	7,203	+4,545
Rhode Island	978	622	+356
South Carolina	25,354	32,282	−6,928
South Dakota	475	420	+55
Tennessee	8,140	8,701	−561
Texas	15,847	15,133	+714
Utah	2,194	1,513	+681
Vermont	848	431	+417
Virginia	26,310	22,403	+3,907
Washington	4,695	3,868	+827
West Virginia	2,470	1,873	+597
Wisconsin	2,606	1,839	+767
Wyoming	376	291	+85

Migration between North Carolina 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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