| # | Metro | Net migration | Inflows | Outflows | Net AGI flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas, TX | +38,499 | 499,962 | 461,463 | $+2.1B |
| 2 | Houston, TX | +23,417 | 344,289 | 320,872 | $+0.1B |
| 3 | Tampa, FL | +20,888 | 196,488 | 175,600 | $+2.2B |
| 4 | Charlotte, NC | +19,908 | 164,951 | 145,043 | $+1.0B |
| 5 | Lakeland, FL | +18,556 | 57,661 | 39,105 | $+0.6B |
| 6 | Jacksonville, FL | +18,554 | 108,153 | 89,599 | $+1.5B |
| 7 | Phoenix, AZ | +17,909 | 189,502 | 171,593 | $+2.0B |
| 8 | San Antonio, TX | +17,563 | 136,033 | 118,470 | $+0.6B |
| 9 | Austin, TX | +16,734 | 174,974 | 158,240 | $+1.4B |
| 10 | Sarasota, FL | +14,383 | 62,664 | 48,281 | $+2.3B |
| 11 | Nashville, TN | +13,425 | 137,814 | 124,389 | $+1.3B |
| 12 | Raleigh, NC | +13,414 | 88,883 | 75,469 | $+0.6B |
| 13 | Deltona, FL | +12,390 | 45,306 | 32,916 | $+0.9B |
| 14 | Port St. Lucie, FL | +11,502 | 39,128 | 27,626 | $+0.9B |
| 15 | Ocala, FL | +11,408 | 28,624 | 17,216 | $+0.5B |
| 16 | Atlanta, GA | +11,270 | 431,770 | 420,500 | $-0.3B |
| 17 | Myrtle Beach, SC | +11,230 | 25,856 | 14,626 | $+0.7B |
| 18 | Palm Bay, FL | +10,298 | 35,446 | 25,148 | $+0.6B |
| 19 | Greenville, SC | +10,223 | 53,653 | 43,430 | $+0.6B |
| 20 | Charleston, SC | +10,199 | 66,214 | 56,015 | $+1.0B |
| 21 | Wilmington, NC | +10,007 | 33,887 | 23,880 | $+0.8B |
| 22 | Orlando, FL | +9,422 | 194,859 | 185,437 | $+1.0B |
| 23 | Las Vegas, NV | +8,928 | 88,276 | 79,348 | $+1.2B |
| 24 | Knoxville, TN | +8,774 | 52,173 | 43,399 | $+0.5B |
| 25 | Boise, ID | +8,342 | 48,289 | 39,947 | $+0.5B |
Housing market ranking · IRS SOI 2022–2023
Where are people moving in the U.S.?
Dallas, TX led U.S. metros with 38,499 net domestic migrants in IRS SOI year 2022–2023 (filed returns that moved). Among 917 CBSAs WealthyBud tracks, 511 gained residents and 405 lost them. New York, NY had the largest net outflow at -181,613.
What does IRS net migration measure on this page?
Net migration here is IRS Statistics of Income county-to-county domestic moves, rolled to Census CBSAs for year 2022–2023. A positive number means more tax-filing households moved in than out. It is not a Census population estimate and excludes international immigration.
WealthyBud stores the IRS fields as net_migration, migration_in,
migration_out and net_agi_flow on each market record, with
migration_period set to 2022–2023. Listing and price context on linked
market pages still uses September 2026 Realtor.com data.
Which metros gained the most residents?
Dallas, TX ranks first at +38,499 net migrants, then Houston, TX at +23,417 and Tampa, FL at +20,888. The median metro on this file is near +56 for the same IRS year. See the tables and sources on this page.
Which metros lost the most residents?
New York, NY posted the largest net outflow at -181,613 in 2022–2023. Large coastal metros dominate the bottom of the list. Outflows still leave large populations; they describe filer moves, not empty cities. See the tables and sources on this page.
| # | Metro | Net migration | Inflows | Outflows | Net AGI flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York, NY | -181,613 | 742,156 | 923,769 | $-12.1B |
| 2 | Los Angeles, CA | -108,943 | 268,530 | 377,473 | $-5.1B |
| 3 | Fort Lauderdale, FL | -54,761 | 215,288 | 270,049 | $+3.8B |
| 4 | Chicago, IL | -47,153 | 299,463 | 346,616 | $-5.2B |
| 5 | San Francisco, CA | -39,483 | 187,546 | 227,029 | $-4.7B |
| 6 | Northern Virginia, VA | -28,891 | 368,151 | 397,042 | $-3.4B |
| 7 | Boston, MA | -26,113 | 211,499 | 237,612 | $-3.6B |
| 8 | San Jose, CA | -22,152 | 68,435 | 90,587 | $-3.1B |
| 9 | San Diego, CA | -18,212 | 110,134 | 128,346 | $-0.2B |
| 10 | Philadelphia, PA | -15,102 | 235,057 | 250,159 | $-1.6B |
| 11 | Seattle, WA | -13,593 | 183,049 | 196,642 | $-1.8B |
| 12 | Detroit, MI | -12,518 | 144,912 | 157,430 | $-1.2B |
| 13 | New Orleans, LA | -9,597 | 39,802 | 49,399 | $-0.4B |
| 14 | Salt Lake City, UT | -8,702 | 49,737 | 58,439 | $-0.4B |
| 15 | Baltimore, MD | -8,666 | 140,093 | 148,759 | $-1.0B |
| 16 | Portland, OR | -7,259 | 124,512 | 131,771 | $-0.7B |
| 17 | Memphis, TN | -7,061 | 50,104 | 57,165 | $-0.5B |
| 18 | Honolulu, HI | -5,830 | 39,254 | 45,084 | $-0.1B |
| 19 | Cleveland, OH | -4,574 | 65,786 | 70,360 | $-0.5B |
| 20 | Salinas, CA | -4,550 | 11,763 | 16,313 | $-0.0B |
| 21 | Pittsburgh, PA | -4,275 | 70,974 | 75,249 | $-0.6B |
| 22 | Minneapolis, MN | -4,204 | 189,762 | 193,966 | $-1.2B |
| 23 | Oxnard, CA | -3,961 | 24,951 | 28,912 | $-0.2B |
| 24 | El Paso, TX | -3,821 | 29,507 | 33,328 | $-0.2B |
| 25 | Milwaukee, WI | -3,741 | 54,122 | 57,863 | $-0.4B |
Which large metros still gained people?
Among metros with at least 1,000,000 ACS residents, Dallas, TX leads net inflows at +38,499 in 2022–2023. 55 large metros appear in the IRS file; 22 of them posted net gains on this measure. See the tables and sources on this page.
| # | Metro | Net migration | Population | Net AGI flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas, TX | +38,499 | 7,807,555 | $+2.1B |
| 2 | Houston, TX | +23,417 | 7,274,714 | $+0.1B |
| 3 | Tampa, FL | +20,888 | 3,240,469 | $+2.2B |
| 4 | Charlotte, NC | +19,908 | 2,712,818 | $+1.0B |
| 5 | Jacksonville, FL | +18,554 | 1,645,707 | $+1.5B |
| 6 | Phoenix, AZ | +17,909 | 4,941,206 | $+2.0B |
| 7 | San Antonio, TX | +17,563 | 2,612,802 | $+0.6B |
| 8 | Austin, TX | +16,734 | 2,357,497 | $+1.4B |
| 9 | Nashville, TN | +13,425 | 2,043,713 | $+1.3B |
| 10 | Raleigh, NC | +13,414 | 1,449,594 | $+0.6B |
How does net AGI flow compare with headcount moves?
IRS also publishes net AGI that moved with those returns. Among the top 25 gainers with AGI data, Sarasota, FL shows the largest net AGI inflow at $+2.3B. AGI flow and headcount can diverge when high earners move. See the tables and sources on this page.
- Dallas, TX: +38,499 net migrants, $+2.1B net AGI.
- Houston, TX: +23,417 net migrants, $+0.1B net AGI.
- New York, NY: -181,613 net migrants, $-12.1B net AGI.
For price and inventory context on these markets, see best places to invest, cheapest places to buy, and buyer’s vs seller’s markets.
How is the where-people-are-moving list calculated?
Universe: 917 CBSA-level markets with a non-null IRS net_migration field in WealthyBud markets.json (as_of September 2026). One row per CBSA code, curated record first. Ranked by net_migration descending. Vintage label: 2022–2023. See the tables and sources on this page. See the tables and sources on this page.
- Start from CBSA-level markets.json rows with a non-null
net_migration. - Keep one row per CBSA code (curated record first).
- Sort by
net_migrationdescending for inflows; ascending for outflows. - Label every table with the IRS vintage in
migration_period(2022–2023).
1 metros recorded zero net migration on this file. International immigration is outside the IRS domestic SOI extract.
Frequently asked questions
Where are people moving in the U.S. right now?
By IRS SOI filer moves for 2022–2023, Dallas, TX had the largest net domestic inflow at +38,499, followed by Houston, TX and Tampa, FL. 511 of 917 metros gained residents on this measure. See the tables and sources on this page.
Which cities are people leaving?
New York, NY had the largest net outflow at -181,613 in 2022–2023. The bottom of the list is dominated by large coastal metros. See the outflow table on this page. See the tables and sources on this page. See the tables and sources on this page.
What year is the IRS migration data from?
Every row on this page uses IRS SOI migration year 2022–2023, the vintage stored as migration_period on WealthyBud's markets.json records (as_of September 2026). That is the latest county-to-county SOI file WealthyBud has ingested. See the tables and sources on this page.
Is IRS migration the same as Census population growth?
No. IRS SOI tracks address changes on tax returns between years. Census population estimates also include births, deaths and international migration. Use both, and do not treat filer moves as a headcount census. See the tables and sources on this page.
Do migration gains mean a better housing investment?
Not automatically. Inflows can support rents and prices, but they say nothing about inventory, yields, taxes or insurance. Pair this list with price, supply and cash-flow rankings before you buy. See the tables and sources on this page. See the tables and sources on this page.
How is this where-people-are-moving list built?
Keep CBSA records with net_migration, de-duplicate by CBSA code, and sort by net_migration. Inflows, outflows and net AGI come from the same IRS SOI fields. No estimates fill missing cells. See the tables and sources on this page. See the tables and sources on this page.
Key takeaways
- Dallas, TX led net domestic inflows at +38,499 in IRS year 2022–2023.
- 511 of 917 metros gained residents; 405 lost them.
- New York, NY had the largest net outflow at -181,613.
- The data are tax-return address changes, not Census population estimates.
- Pair migration with price, supply and yield rankings before treating inflows as an investable signal.
For education only, not real-estate or investment advice. IRS SOI migration counts tax-return moves, not a full population census.