Americans have moved beyond complaining about high-tax blue states. They are packing up their income and leaving.
Fresh IRS migration data show a striking divide: California and New York dominate the list of counties losing taxpayers, while lower-tax states keep collecting the people, paychecks and investment those states chased away.
States with no individual income tax—Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, and others—consistently rank among the strongest gainers, while states with the highest top rates—California, New York, and New Jersey—dominate the list of losers.
— Tax Foundation (@TaxFoundation) July 18, 2026
The IRS Statistics of Income migration series tracks year-to-year address changes reported on individual tax returns. Returns approximate households, exemptions approximate people, and adjusted gross income shows the financial weight moving with them.
The latest county-level picture is brutal for the progressive model. Los Angeles County lost a net 37,163 tax filers to other states, followed by Orange County at 13,191 and Santa Clara County at 11,939.
New York County lost 11,034. San Diego, Nassau, Riverside, San Bernardino and Kings counties also landed among the ten largest net losers.
The IRS warns that its 2022–2023 release begins an enhanced matching series, so comparisons with older editions require care. Inside the current dataset, however, the direction of household movement is plain.
Those are not abstract population estimates. They represent taxpaying households taking their earnings, spending and future tax base somewhere else.
Fox News’ review of the IRS data found that all ten counties with the largest net taxpayer losses were in California or New York. The leading gainers included Maricopa County, Arizona; Harris County, Texas; King County, Washington; and Clark County, Nevada.
The same report noted that Americans are disproportionately choosing places such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee—states where lower or nonexistent individual income taxes let families keep more of what they earn.
Maricopa County gained a net 9,353 interstate filers, Harris County gained 8,955, King County gained 8,297 and Clark County gained 7,524. The contrast puts hard numbers behind years of moving-company reports and Census estimates.
Sources of US government revenue by tax type: 39.9% individual income taxes, 24.0% social insurance taxes, 16.8% consumption taxes, 11.0% property taxes, and 8.3% corporate income taxes.
— Tax Foundation (@TaxFoundation) July 19, 2026
Democrat leaders can call that trend selfish, unfair or temporary. The moving trucks do not care.
When a state punishes work, piles on regulation and lets basic quality-of-life problems fester, families eventually exercise the one veto politicians cannot filibuster: they leave.
The people arriving in red states bring more than a forwarding address. They bring businesses, home purchases, charitable giving, consumer spending and the tax revenue needed to support schools, roads and public safety.
President Trump’s economic message rests on a simple idea that Washington and the states should compete for American workers instead of treating them like captive revenue sources. The IRS numbers show that millions of personal decisions are already delivering the verdict.
California and New York still possess enormous advantages. But no state is entitled to its taxpayers forever, and the newest migration map looks like a warning written in red ink.
