IRS tax-return data · 2022–2023

West Virginia Migration: Who Moved In, Who Moved Out

Where people who left West Virginia 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

36,521

People, from other states, 2022–2023

Moved out

33,384

People, to other states, 2022–2023

Net

+3,137

People: moved in minus moved out

Net income

$11 million

Arrivals’ income minus leavers’, earned in 2022

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing seasons, 36,521 people appear on tax returns that moved into West Virginia from another state, and 33,384 on returns that moved out. On balance West Virginia gained 3,137 people to the rest of the country. The households that arrived reported $1.22 billion in income and the ones that left reported $1.21 billion.

Its largest net gain came from Virginia (+2,213), and its largest net loss was to Ohio (−743).

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 West Virginia went

1Ohio5,442
2Virginia4,520
3Pennsylvania3,063
4Maryland2,664
5Florida2,608
6North Carolina2,470
7Kentucky1,668
8South Carolina1,458
9Texas1,253
10Tennessee956

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

Where new arrivals came from

1Virginia6,733
2Ohio4,699
3Maryland4,317
4Pennsylvania3,254
5Florida2,761
6North Carolina1,873
7Kentucky1,372
8Texas1,172
9South Carolina937
10California847

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

West Virginia and every other state

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

State	Moved in from	Moved out to	Net
Alabama	264	341	−77
Alaska	95	60	+35
Arizona	336	287	+49
Arkansas	92	140	−48
California	847	523	+324
Colorado	411	316	+95
Connecticut	104	107	−3
Delaware	163	147	+16
District of Columbia	150	114	+36
Florida	2,761	2,608	+153
Georgia	691	716	−25
Hawaii	81	65	+16
Idaho	122	61	+61
Illinois	307	331	−24
Indiana	385	390	−5
Iowa	64	114	−50
Kansas	131	119	+12
Kentucky	1,372	1,668	−296
Louisiana	208	120	+88
Maine	57	86	−29
Maryland	4,317	2,664	+1,653
Massachusetts	160	137	+23
Michigan	475	446	+29
Minnesota	101	123	−22
Mississippi	140	120	+20
Missouri	231	246	−15
Montana	91	81	+10
Nebraska	54	52	+2
Nevada	157	116	+41
New Hampshire	72	65	+7
New Jersey	527	273	+254
New Mexico	88	91	−3
New York	797	470	+327
North Carolina	1,873	2,470	−597
North Dakota	47	60	−13
Ohio	4,699	5,442	−743
Oklahoma	178	163	+15
Oregon	159	106	+53
Pennsylvania	3,254	3,063	+191
Rhode Island	36	35	+1
South Carolina	937	1,458	−521
South Dakota	80	53	+27
Tennessee	760	956	−196
Texas	1,172	1,253	−81
Utah	172	121	+51
Vermont	42	29	+13
Virginia	6,733	4,520	+2,213
Washington	330	234	+96
Wisconsin	129	171	−42
Wyoming	69	53	+16

Migration between West Virginia 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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