(The Center Square) – IRS migration data shows Arizona gained 80,033 more people in filing families than it lost – mostly from California – earning billions of dollars in income in the process.
The Internal Revenue Service tracks interstate migration using tax returns that moved from state to state and the number of dependents they brought. After subtracting the number of outbound residents, the state gained 80,033 taxpayers and their dependents who filed in 2019 in another state but filed as an Arizona resident in 2020.
This equates to a 1.1% increase in the state’s total population, according to IRS data published May 24.
The IRS also accumulates the adjusted gross income of taxpayers who have moved. The 42,552 more taxpayers who moved to Arizona than left bring with them $4,800,358,000 in AGI. Of the 50 states, seven saw larger revenue increases. Idaho, which had experienced an outsized migration of Californians, gained the largest percentage of population as well as the percentage of AGI.
While Arizona saw new resident taxpayers from every state, the vast majority of the incoming population migrated from California. Arizona saw a net gain of 37,772 Golden State taxpayers and their dependents.
With 38 million people, California also had a greater net loss in taxpayers than any other state. After subtracting newcomers, California lost 263,344 tax filers and their dependents between 2019 and 2020. This equates to $17.8 billion in lost adjusted gross income for other states. Of those who left California, more went to Texas than to any other state. More than 87,707 Californians in total moved to Texas between the 2019 and 2020 tax seasons.
Arizona was the second most popular for outgoing Californians, with 63,098 filers and their families heading to the border.
