For Richer and For Poorer: How Moving Patterns of Americans Differ by Income Level
The economic divide in America fundamentally alters how, where, and why people relocate. While moving is often viewed through the lens of a fresh start, a deep dive into domestic migration reveals that income heavily dictates mobility. High earners move less frequently but cross greater distances, often motivated by job transfers or purchasing a home. Conversely, lower-income Americans move at much higher rates but typically stay local, driven primarily by rising costs and the search for cheaper housing. This report explores these oppositional migration patterns, highlighting the distinct states and cities gaining and losing residents across different economic classes.
Key Takeaways
- America’s bottom 20% of earners are 32% more likely to move than their top-earning counterparts, according to Census data for 2023
- The top 20% of earners were more likely to move to a different state than Americans in other income brackets
- Moving “to own a home” was nearly five times more common among the top 20% of earners (11.6% of moves) than among the bottom 20% of earners (2.5% of moves)
- Vermont is the top destination for the top 20% of earners (net gain of 89%)
- Oklahoma saw twice as many low-income Americans move in (net gain of 102%) than out in 2023, more than any other state
Volodymyr Kupriyanov
Volodymyr Kupriyanov (AKA "VK") is a data journalist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He specializes in data-driven storytelling, leveraging data to create compelling, insightful stories. His stories for HireAHelper have been featured in hundreds of publications, including Business Insider, The New York Times, and Bloomberg. When not visualizing and analyzing numbers, he enjoys rock climbing, playing frisbee with his dog, and discovering new places to eat.
Taxes, Housing, and Gentrification: The Economic Effects of Moving
When people move, their income moves with them. This can affect local economies, both in the places they move to and in the places they leave behind. High-income individuals moving to “cheap” cities or states have gentrification effects, observed in places like Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and the much-publicized movement of high-earning Californians to Texas that has made housing less affordable in the Lone Star State. In turn, California and New York have lost $90 billion in income tax revenues due to out-migration, according to the most recent IRS data.
Moves of the bottom 20% of earners can also have profound economic consequences. Being continually priced out of buying a home or struggling to keep up with the cost of living, Americans on lower incomes flock to areas they can afford, resulting in poverty concentration. This is a phenomenon whereby certain cities or suburban areas become “predominantly poor”.
According to the HUD report, poverty concentration results in communities having serious issues with crime, health, and education, which affects both the current living standards and the future social and economic prospects of their residents. In this study, we examine moving patterns of Americans by income level and explore how much, why, and where Americans on the opposite ends of the income scale move.
Low Earners Move More, High Earners Move Farther
The top 20% of American households by income (those earning $150,000+ per year) are much less likely to move than their relatively poorer counterparts. In the past year, the higher earners moved at a rate of only 6.5%, in contrast to the 9% moving rate of those in the bottom 20% of households by income (those earning less than $30,000).
The most likely explanation for this is homeownership. Our moving studies and statistics show that renters are two to three times more likely to move than those who own a home outright. Americans with high incomes are much more likely to be homeowners and, by extension, significantly less likely to move.
As for the middle-earners who make up 60% of U.S. households, they are closer to the bottom earners in their overall mobility rate (9%), but similar to top earners in that almost one in five (18%) of those who did move in 2023 crossed state lines.
Better Housing vs Cheaper Housing: Motivations Behind Moves of Americans by Income Level
For the top 20% of American earners, home ownership is both a reason to stay and a reason to move. Becoming a homeowner (or “Wanted to own home, not rent” as the Census Bureau puts it) was the #3 reason for moves of those in the top income quintile with around 12% of Americans in this income bracket moving for this reason last year.
By contrast, only 2.5% of those in the bottom 20% of earners moved because they bought a home in 2023. The top 20% of earners were also much more likely to move for new and better housing (18%) and new jobs (12%). The poorest 20% of households only accounted for around 10% and 7% of those types of moves, respectively.
Conversely, the poorest 20% of U.S. households were significantly more likely to move for cheaper housing (12%, compared to 6% among the top earners), health reasons (3% vs 1%), and other family reasons (10% vs 7%). "Other family reasons", according to the Census Bureau, most often refers to moving closer to or with family to take care of them or share in childcare duties. The middle 60% of households in the U.S. were, predictably, between the two extremes regarding motivations behind moving. Around 7% of those who moved in this bracket did so because they bought a home, and 10% moved for cheaper housing.
Almost 9% moved for family reasons, and a similar share moved for a new job or transfer. But where do Americans of different income levels actually move? The next section explores the states gaining or losing residents in different income brackets.
Top Earners Vie for Vermont, Low Earners Opt for Oklahoma: Interstate Moves by Income Bracket
Driven by different motivations, which states are people on different sides of the income scale most likely to flock to? And which states are they leaving behind? Based on the 2023 data from the Current Population Survey, Vermont was the state that gained the most of the top 20% of earners in America. As many as 89% more top earners moved here than left the state last year. Other states where more high-earning Americans were moving to (rather than out of) include West Virginia (+69%), Connecticut (+65%), and Iowa (+58%).
The list of states with the highest gains among the bottom 20% of earners looks rather different. Oklahoma (+102%) was at the top with twice as many low-income households moving into the state than leaving it. Iowa made another appearance in this bracket, with a net of 53% more low earners relocating here.
Arizona (+45%), Texas (+43%), and Kansas (+43%) rounded out the top five. And what about the middle class? For them, the top five states by net move gains were Delaware (+55%), South Carolina (+53%), Florida (+52%), Maine (+49%), and Georgia (+43%).
On the other side of the spectrum, the bottom 20% of earners were more likely to leave California (-57%), New Jersey (-45%), and New York (-44%) than move to these states. The top earners left Illinois (-57%), Nebraska (-47%), and Maryland (-37%) the most, while the middle 60% vacated New York (-55%), California (-45%), and Maryland (-28%) at the highest rate. Interestingly, Idaho and Washington saw a significant increase in the amount of top-earning Americans moving there, while simultaneously losing more low-income households.
Kansas, New Mexico, and Nebraska show the reverse trend. These states saw a significant outflow of the top 20% of households by income while posting significant net gains in the bottom 20% of earners. As for the middle 60% of U.S. earners, they're closer to their poorer counterparts than to the richer households when it comes to interstate moves.
High- and Middle-Income Americans Flock to Central Florida: Income-Based Moves by Metro
At a more local level, certain metropolitan areas are disproportionately popular among people in different income brackets. For the top 20% of earners, the Deltona, FL (+171%) and College Station, TX (+132%) metros saw the highest net gain of movers out of all cities.
Among the bottom 20% of earners, the metros posting the greatest net gains were Greensboro, NC (+80%), Fort Collins, CO (+67%), and Oklahoma City, OK (+51%). Finally, Port St. Lucie, FL (+88%), Deltona, FL (+79%), and Cape Coral, FL (+64%) were the metro areas with the most favorable ratio of incoming to outgoing residents in the middle 60% of earners. See which metros were most popular with Americans of different incomes on the map below.
Metropolitan areas where top earners were most likely to leave in 2023 were Omaha, NE (-84%), Louisville, KY (-75%), and Bakersfield, CA (-72%), while the low-earning households decided Boise, ID (-80%), Omaha, NE (-78%), and Baton Rouge, LA (-74%) were no longer for them.
As for the middle 60% of earners, the areas posting the highest percentage net losses in 2023 are Springfield, MA (-75%), Fayetteville, NC (-66%), and Buffalo, NY (-62%). The latter is tied with the New York, NY metro area, where 62% more middle-income Americans have moved out than they moved in last year.
For even more info on where people in different income brackets are moving, check out the tables below!
State Tables
Top 20% of Earners: States by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Vermont | 89% | Illinois | -57% | |
| West Virginia | 69% | Nebraska | -47% | |
| Connecticut | 65% | Maryland | -37% | |
| Iowa | 58% | New Jersey | -37% | |
| Florida | 57% | Louisiana | -37% | |
| Alabama | 54% | Minnesota | -32% | |
| North Carolina | 46% | New York | -25% | |
| South Carolina | 43% | Maine | -24% | |
| Indiana | 42% | California | -21% | |
| New Hampshire | 37% | New Mexico | -18% |
Bottom 20% of Earners: States by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Oklahoma | 102% | California | -57% | |
| Connecticut | 61% | New Jersey | -45% | |
| Iowa | 53% | New York | -44% | |
| Arizona | 45% | Vermont | -38% | |
| Texas | 43% | Utah | -29% | |
| Kansas | 43% | Wisconsin | -26% | |
| Kentucky | 40% | Maryland | -25% | |
| Florida | 39% | District of Columbia | -23% | |
| New Mexico | 39% | Hawaii | -21% | |
| Rhode Island | 36% | Massachusetts | -18% |
Middle 60% of Earners: States by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Connecticut | 96% | New York | -55% | |
| Delaware | 55% | California | -45% | |
| South Carolina | 53% | Hawaii | -28% | |
| Florida | 52% | Maryland | -27% | |
| Maine | 49% | Louisiana | -27% | |
| Montana | 49% | New Jersey | -27% | |
| Kansas | 44% | Iowa | -27% | |
| Georgia | 43% | Illinois | -27% | |
| Arizona | 39% | Utah | -26% | |
| New Mexico | 39% | District of Columbia | -25% |
Metro Area Tables
Top 20% of Earners: Metros by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 171% | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | -84% | |
| College Station-Bryan, TX | 132% | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | -75% | |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 127% | Bakersfield, CA | -72% | |
| North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 68% | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | -71% | |
| Ann Arbor, MI | 63% | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | -69% | |
| Provo-Orem, UT | 40% | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | -68% | |
| Akron, OH | 35% | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | -65% | |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | 34% | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | -63% | |
| Knoxville, TN | 33% | Tulsa, OK | -63% | |
| Fresno, CA | 32% | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | -57% |
Bottom 20% of Earners: Metros by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Greensboro-High Point, NC | 80% | Boise City, ID | -80% | |
| Fort Collins, CO | 67% | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | -78% | |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 51% | Baton Rouge, LA | -74% | |
| Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL | 24% | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | -72% | |
| Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 20% | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | -70% | |
| Ann Arbor, MI | 20% | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | -65% | |
| Akron, OH | 16% | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | -62% | |
| Fresno, CA | 14% | Raleigh, NC | -61% | |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 13% | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC | -56% | |
| College Station-Bryan, TX | 13% | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | -56% |
Middle 60% of Earners: Metros by Net Moves
| Top 10 | Gain % | Bottom 10 | Loss % | |
| Port St. Lucie, FL | 88% | Springfield, MA | -75% | |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 79% | Fayetteville, NC | -66% | |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 64% | Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY | -62% | |
| Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL | 61% | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | -62% | |
| Stockton-Lodi, CA | 56% | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | -61% | |
| North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 38% | Rochester, NY | -57% | |
| Fort Collins, CO | 32% | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | -55% | |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 17% | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | -54% | |
| Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | 12% | Urban Honolulu, HI | -54% | |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 9% | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | -54% |
Sources and Methodology
The primary source for all the data used in this study is the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and its Annual Social and Economic Supplements (as available via IPUMS).
All data on income, moves, their origins, destinations, and reasons behind them, as well as all estimates and percentages are based on moves within the United States.
For this study, the household income brackets were adopted from the DQYDJ data and calculated as follows:
$150,000 or more - top 20%
$30,000 or less - bottom 20%
Everyone in between - middle 60%
Net gain and loss for states and metropolitan areas was calculated as follows:
# of people moving into the state or city, to
the # of people moving out of the state or city,
expressed as a percentage (%)
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