By StartBusinessByStatePublisher: Robert SmithResearch process
Editorial corrections verified September 15, 2026. Fixed edition: IRS SOI interstate migration 2022–2023 (row code 97) paired with Census Business Formation Statistics calendar-year 2023 applications and NST-EST2024 POPESTIMATE2023. Figures recomputed from source files on September 15, 2026; vintage not rolled forward.
3,966,932 households —
6,590,871 people — moved from one state to another
between the 2022 and 2023 filing years, according to the IRS. Over the same period Americans
filed 5,469,302 business applications. This page puts those two
state-level patterns side by side and asks whether they point the same direction.
They mostly don’t. That weak relationship is the finding — not a story that people move in order to start businesses, or that migration causes formation.
Starting a business after a move?
Organize the formation steps and ongoing records for the state where you will operate. The LLC setup guide provides the filing path.
Where households moved
Adjusted for population, the biggest net gains went to South Carolina (+54.2), Delaware (+39.1), North Carolina (+36.0), Tennessee (+33.7), Idaho (+29.5) — net households per
10,000 residents. The biggest net losses: New York (-36.5), California (-25.6), Illinois (-22.6), Louisiana (-22.1), Maryland (-21.9). Every number counts moves
between states only; arrivals from outside the country are excluded, which is why
these figures differ from raw population change.
Where business applications were filed
On business applications per 1,000 residents in 2023, the leaders were Wyoming (106.7), Delaware (54.7), Florida (29.1), Georgia (25.1), Colorado (23.7).
Wyoming and Delaware sit at the top of that list with extreme per-capita rates. Business Formation Statistics counts applications, not local employer births; extreme rates can reflect filing patterns that are not local economic activity (including non-resident LLC demand), and the series used here does not by itself prove a single cause. Our
business formation statistics page
covers that measurement issue in full. Newer 2026 figures show how far states can diverge: Kentucky business applications are up 34%, while Hawaii’s are down 7%.
The two lists barely agree
Ranking all 51 jurisdictions on both measures produces a Spearman rank correlation of
0.29 between net migration and business
applications per capita (0.26 with Wyoming and
Delaware removed, n = 49). Against the growth in applications it
falls to 0.12 — effectively no relationship at all.
The states where the two rankings diverge most sharply: Maine (migration #8, formation #50), Louisiana (migration #48, formation #11), New Jersey (migration #45, formation #12), Maryland (migration #47, formation #15). A moving-truck ranking
and a business-application ranking are answering different questions, and a state that tops one
can sit in the bottom half of the other.
Who moves, by income
The table shows the average adjusted gross income of the households arriving in each state
and of those leaving it. The gap is largest in Florida, where arriving households
reported $46,406 more on average than departing ones
($122,539 against $76,133). It runs the other way in
the District of Columbia, where arrivals reported $31,154 less than departures.
Read this as a description of who moved, not as income transplanted into a state: AGI
follows a household, and a household’s income after moving reflects the job it took, not
a sum carried across the state line.
All 50 states and D.C.
| State | Net households | Per 10,000 residents | Avg AGI, arriving | Avg AGI, leaving | Business apps per 1,000 | Apps YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | +6,202 | +12.1 | $66,467 | $63,867 | 14.0 | +0.8% |
| Alaska | -1,389 | -18.9 | $63,292 | $70,910 | 12.1 | +5.1% |
| Arizona | +17,316 | +23.2 | $87,497 | $75,593 | 16.8 | +8.8% |
| Arkansas | +5,269 | +17.2 | $62,982 | $59,337 | 12.7 | +3.1% |
| California | -100,397 | -25.6 | $95,523 | $102,119 | 14.3 | +14.7% |
| Colorado | +11,341 | +19.2 | $82,531 | $84,539 | 23.7 | +20.3% |
| Connecticut | -5,674 | -15.6 | $110,821 | $107,673 | 13.2 | +7.5% |
| Delaware | +4,054 | +39.1 | $88,435 | $76,502 | 54.7 | +24.1% |
| District of Columbia | +1,673 | +24.3 | $86,003 | $117,157 | 21.6 | +3.5% |
| Florida | +55,349 | +24.2 | $122,539 | $76,133 | 29.1 | +9.4% |
| Georgia | +14,671 | +13.3 | $70,169 | $72,288 | 25.1 | +1.7% |
| Hawaii | -2,597 | -18.0 | $78,082 | $70,863 | 13.3 | +3.2% |
| Idaho | +5,811 | +29.5 | $81,247 | $64,061 | 15.8 | +4.8% |
| Illinois | -28,609 | -22.6 | $78,819 | $104,442 | 13.7 | +2.1% |
| Indiana | -1,268 | -1.8 | $64,348 | $67,814 | 13.6 | +12.3% |
| Iowa | -2,414 | -7.5 | $61,608 | $64,882 | 10.4 | +11.1% |
| Kansas | -3,272 | -11.1 | $64,708 | $68,187 | 11.2 | +6.6% |
| Kentucky | +2,158 | +4.7 | $60,483 | $65,673 | 12.0 | +17.2% |
| Louisiana | -10,129 | -22.1 | $58,189 | $62,643 | 17.5 | -0.2% |
| Maine | +3,671 | +26.2 | $85,446 | $74,102 | 10.1 | +8.4% |
| Maryland | -13,628 | -21.9 | $80,820 | $88,250 | 16.4 | +2.6% |
| Massachusetts | -15,378 | -21.8 | $89,889 | $116,608 | 10.8 | +6.9% |
| Michigan | -8,770 | -8.7 | $74,145 | $77,943 | 14.7 | +7.9% |
| Minnesota | -5,106 | -8.9 | $70,475 | $89,425 | 11.9 | +12.3% |
| Mississippi | -3,125 | -10.6 | $56,877 | $53,551 | 18.0 | -5.2% |
| Missouri | +2,794 | +4.5 | $65,825 | $71,544 | 14.4 | +10.4% |
| Montana | +3,096 | +27.4 | $79,110 | $65,164 | 20.9 | +14.3% |
| Nebraska | -1,484 | -7.5 | $59,867 | $66,473 | 10.8 | +4.8% |
| Nevada | +8,977 | +27.9 | $87,254 | $74,626 | 20.5 | +6.0% |
| New Hampshire | +2,168 | +15.5 | $109,318 | $88,043 | 11.4 | +14.9% |
| New Jersey | -19,370 | -20.7 | $102,189 | $106,727 | 17.1 | +4.0% |
| New Mexico | -213 | -1.0 | $66,101 | $68,669 | 16.1 | +26.2% |
| New York | -71,987 | -36.5 | $94,201 | $105,982 | 15.8 | +5.1% |
| North Carolina | +39,118 | +36.0 | $80,161 | $74,288 | 15.6 | +3.7% |
| North Dakota | -46 | -0.6 | $54,596 | $64,803 | 11.4 | +12.2% |
| Ohio | -7,994 | -6.8 | $67,237 | $78,108 | 12.5 | +5.9% |
| Oklahoma | +5,414 | +13.3 | $59,002 | $60,448 | 14.2 | +4.7% |
| Oregon | -45 | -0.1 | $74,782 | $82,123 | 13.2 | +13.1% |
| Pennsylvania | -12,095 | -9.3 | $76,365 | $85,642 | 11.9 | +11.1% |
| Rhode Island | -129 | -1.2 | $82,595 | $79,934 | 10.5 | +6.5% |
| South Carolina | +29,214 | +54.2 | $88,475 | $66,567 | 17.0 | +1.1% |
| South Dakota | +1,539 | +16.8 | $73,742 | $63,891 | 12.4 | +8.2% |
| Tennessee | +24,104 | +33.7 | $79,429 | $70,076 | 13.4 | +5.0% |
| Texas | +56,473 | +18.4 | $83,632 | $80,359 | 16.3 | +7.3% |
| Utah | +3,164 | +9.2 | $80,129 | $74,886 | 20.8 | +9.4% |
| Vermont | -299 | -4.6 | $82,099 | $71,935 | 11.5 | +2.5% |
| Virginia | +421 | +0.5 | $82,327 | $89,327 | 15.0 | +6.2% |
| Washington | +9,839 | +12.5 | $89,889 | $100,122 | 12.4 | +9.6% |
| West Virginia | +879 | +5.0 | $58,484 | $60,514 | 8.6 | +10.5% |
| Wisconsin | +516 | +0.9 | $72,372 | $74,386 | 11.0 | +1.3% |
| Wyoming | +187 | +3.2 | $79,888 | $69,158 | 106.7 | +37.6% |
Net households = arrivals minus departures, interstate only. Average AGI is total adjusted
gross income divided by the number of returns in each flow, in 2023 dollars. Business
applications are calendar-year 2023 from Census Business Formation Statistics; YoY compares
2023 with 2022.
What this data can and cannot tell you
- It does not identify business owners. IRS migration data is built from
address changes on individual income tax returns. Nothing in it records occupation or business
ownership. It cannot identify the movement of business owners, and neither can we. The
pairing here shows whether two state-level patterns coincide — nothing more. - Non-filers are invisible. Households that do not file a federal return do
not appear, which under-counts migration at the lowest incomes. - Addresses are mailing addresses. The address on a return may not be where
the filer lived when the income was earned. - Correlation is not cause. The rank correlations above are reported with
their sample size and no causal claim attached. With n = 51 jurisdictions, a
coefficient near 0.3 is a weak association, not a mechanism. - These are the interstate totals (IRS row code 97, “Total
Migration-US”), the same measure other published analyses use — California’s
net −100,397 households here matches the figure in circulation. The IRS also publishes a
gross migration file whose totals differ slightly because it excludes returns with an adjusted
gross deficit.
If you are the one moving
When the move also means setting up a business, use our LLC formation guide to organize the filings and ongoing records. For opening costs in the new market, compare business financing by stage and use of funds.
Crossing a state line resets the rules your business runs under: the license it needs, the
insurance the state mandates, the fees it pays, and whether your existing credential transfers
at all. Our state-by-state guides cover that layer for all
50 states and D.C., and the
business license requirements by
state table shows which states license businesses at the state level in the first place.
For how new businesses fare after they start, see
business survival rates by state. For a sibling correlation check — BEA personal-income growth vs Census business applications — see personal income vs business formation.
Your next step: plan your LLC formation
Frequently asked questions
Which state gained the most residents from other states?
Adjusted for size, South Carolina gained the most: +54.2 net households per 10,000 residents in the 2022-2023 IRS migration data. Delaware and North Carolina follow. In raw numbers the largest net gains went to Texas (+56,473 households) and Florida (+55,349).
Which state lost the most residents to other states?
New York lost the most relative to its size (-36.5 net households per 10,000 residents), and also the most in raw terms after California. Every figure here counts only moves between states — arrivals from abroad are excluded.
Do people move to the states where the most businesses are started?
Only loosely. Ranking all 51 jurisdictions on both measures gives a Spearman rank correlation of 0.29 between net migration and business applications per capita — and 0.26 excluding Wyoming and Delaware, whose application rates are extreme outliers often linked to non-resident LLC filings. Against the growth in applications it is 0.12, effectively nothing. States that gain people are not reliably the states where business formation is strongest.
Does this data show where business owners are moving?
No, and no honest reading of it can. IRS migration data comes from address changes on individual income tax returns. It identifies households, not occupations — nothing in the file says whether a mover owns a business, started one after arriving, or works for someone else. Pairing it with business applications shows whether the two patterns line up in a state; it cannot attribute one to the other.
How current is this migration data?
The 2022-2023 vintage is the most recent the IRS has published as of this fixed edition. It compares addresses on returns filed in 2022 and 2023. Business application figures are matched to the same period — calendar year 2023 — rather than to today, so the two sides of the table describe the same moment.
Sources
- IRS Statistics of Income — SOI Tax Stats Migration Data 2022–2023, state-to-state
files (inflow and outflow by state, row code 97 “Total Migration-US”) —
irs.gov - IRS Statistics of Income — 2022–2023 Migration Data Users Guide (definitions of
returns, individuals, and AGI; file layouts and disclosure rules) —
PDF - U.S. Census Bureau — Business Formation Statistics, monthly state series
(business applications, not seasonally adjusted) —
census.gov - U.S. Census Bureau — State Population Totals, NST-EST2024 (POPESTIMATE2023) —
census.gov