The U.S. Census Bureau released the net domestic migration data for 2022, indicating the number of people moving in and out of each state.
Fewer and fewer people each year are migrating between states. There was much more migration earlier, after World War II, when the population was younger and often only one adult worked. With two working adults, moving becomes much more complicated. Even though millions of people moved during the pandemic with the ability to work from anywhere (so why not work from a nicer place with a lower cost of living), the migration rate has declined for the last six years.
26 states experienced net in-migration, with more people moving in than out. 25 states had net out-migration.
The biggest winners, with the most influx of people, were Florida and Texas. This should come as no surprise as those states have warm weather, no state income tax, and pro-business state governments. Other states with net in-migration were the Carolinas, Tennessee (which recently abolished its state income tax), Georgia, Arizona (a favorite of retirees), and our neighbor Idaho which is strongly pro-business.
The biggest losers were California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Also no surprise there as these are states with high taxes and high regulatory burdens. These are also states where it is particularly difficult to be a landlord. They make it particularly difficult to evict non-paying tenants. New York, for example, is considering legislation to ban winter evictions.
It is obviously better to invest in a state with population growth and income growth. However, it should be kept in mind that the main advantage of investing in real estate is the combination of leverage and inflation. This can occur without any population growth. Inflation occurs when the money supply is increased. Banks always want inflation because they also use a business model of leverage plus inflation through the fractional reserve banking system. The government needs inflation to keep the national debt payments affordable. They can more easily inflate the debt away than raise taxes to pay for the spending they like to do.
The following is a table showing the net migration in 2022.
| State | Domestic Net Migration 2022 |
| Florida | 318,855 |
| Texas | 230,961 |
| North Carolina | 99,796 |
| South Carolina | 84,030 |
| Tennessee | 81,646 |
| Georgia | 81,406 |
| Arizona | 70,984 |
| Idaho | 28,639 |
| Alabama | 28,609 |
| Oklahoma | 26,791 |
| Nevada | 20,781 |
| Arkansas | 18,209 |
| Montana | 16,003 |
| Utah | 12,898 |
| Delaware | 11,826 |
| Maine | 11,600 |
| Kentucky | 10,420 |
| South Dakota | 8,424 |
| Wisconsin | 7,657 |
| New Hampshire | 6,303 |
| Colorado | 5,376 |
| Indiana | 5,230 |
| Missouri | 5,024 |
| Wyoming | 2,152 |
| Vermont | 1,141 |
| West Virginia | 474 |
| North Dakota | -2,710 |
| Washington | -3,580 |
| District of Columbia | -3,647 |
| Nebraska | -4,270 |
| New Mexico | -4,504 |
| Rhode Island | -5,196 |
| Mississippi | -5,716 |
| Alaska | -6,126 |
| Iowa | -7,292 |
| Kansas | -7,409 |
| Michigan | -8,482 |
| Ohio | -9,165 |
| Connecticut | -13,547 |
| Hawaii | -15,212 |
| Oregon | -17,331 |
| Minnesota | -19,400 |
| Virginia | -23,952 |
| Pennsylvania | -39,957 |
| Maryland | -45,101 |
| Louisiana | -46,672 |
| Massachusetts | -57,292 |
| New Jersey | -64,231 |
| Illinois | -141,656 |
| New York | -299,557 |
| California | -343,230 |
Contact Deepak Malhotra if you need help with real estate investing. Even if you are not looking in Cheney, Medical Lake, Airway Heights, or the Spokane area, mentoring services or referrals can be provided.