10 States Where Upper Middle Class Americans Move to Most

Upper-middle class Americans tend to move less frequently than tax filers with less income, but some areas are seeing an influx of this demographic. SmartAsset reviewed IRA migration data from 2018 to 2019 and inflows and outflows of upper middle class earners in each state to see where Americans earning between $100,000 and $200,000 are leaving and moving to. Florida claimed the top spot with a net migration of 19,200 upper middle class filers, with its population made up of 12.85% of these earners. Texas, with no state income tax, has consistently been a popular state for higher earners to move to. It had a net migration of 8,700 upper middle class people.

Key Findings

• The top six states hold steady. In last year’s study (which looked at 2017-2018 IRS migration data), the top six states where upper-middle class people moved to were Florida, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Those top six states rank in that same order this year, with Florida having the highest net migration of upper-middle-class people by far.
• Maryland and Alaska have the highest percentage of upper-middle class filers, but high earners are leaving both states. More than one in five tax filers in Maryland and Alaska earn between $100,000 and $200,000. However, filers with AGIs in that range are leaving both states. From 2018 to 2019, there were net migrations of 3,447 and 807 upper-middle-class tax filers out of Maryland and Alaska, respectively.

1. Florida

Between 2018 and 2019, there was a net migration of roughly 19,200 upper-middle-class tax filers to Florida. As a result, about 1.1 million upper-middle-class people filed taxes in 2019, making up 12.85% of all Florida filers.

2. Texas

With no state income tax, Texas has been a hotspot for upper-middle-class people over the past several years. Most recently, there was a net migration of 8,700 upper-middle-class people to the state from 2018 to 2019.

3. Arizona

About 17,300 upper-middle-class people moved to Arizona between 2018 and 2019, while roughly 10,100 left. In total, the net migration of upper-middle-class people was almost 7,200.

If you recently moved to Arizona and are looking for some financial help, check out our list of the top financial advisors in the state.

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