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The Domestic Migration Ledger

Between 2021 and 2024, which states did Americans already living in the United States move into, and which did they move out of — measured per 1,000 residents, with international arrivals set aside?

What this ranking does not measure

This measures net moves per resident. It does not measure whether a state is a good place to live, and nothing here explains why anyone moved. Six specific limits. (1) NET, NOT GROSS: a state where 200,000 people arrive and 200,000 leave scores identically to one where nobody moves at all. This file carries no gross in- and out-flows, so churn is invisible and the comparison cannot be made. (2) A RATE FAVOURS SMALL STATES: Idaho ranks 1st on +111,459 people; California ranks 50th on -1,397,897. California lost more than twelve times as many people as Idaho gained, and the rate inverts that entirely. Read the counts alongside the ranks. (3) THE DENOMINATOR IS THE ENDPOINT: the rate divides by the 2024 population, which already contains the people who arrived during the window, so gains are divided by a larger base and losses by a smaller one. That is the Census file's own convention, kept here unchanged; it is not a neutral choice. (4) THE FOUR-YEAR SUM HIDES ITS OWN TREND: Idaho's annual net domestic migration ran 51,978 then 28,368 then 14,730 then 16,383 — a fading flow inside a first-place total. Montana's ran 20,539 down to 5,410. New York's ran -300,058 up to -120,917 — an outflow shrinking by 60% inside a last-place total. The rank is a four-year accumulation, not a description of where things stand in 2024. (5) IT IS NOT POPULATION GROWTH: excluding international arrivals is the point of this ranking, but it means 19 of the 25 jurisdictions with negative domestic migration nevertheless grew in total population over the window — Washington, D.C. is 45th here at -20.2 per 1,000 domestic while gaining 31,727 residents overall on an international rate of +49.3 per 1,000; New Jersey is 44th while gaining 228,446. Rank position is not a growth ranking and must not be read as one. (6) NO CAUSATION AND NO CHARACTERISTICS: the file records how many people moved, not their age, income, housing situation, employer or reason, and nothing in a 51-jurisdiction count can establish that any state policy, tax, price or climate produced any of these flows.

Highest

Beside each state: its net domestic migration per 1,000 residents in each year, 2021–2024, on one scale for all fifteen. The rule is zero.

  1. 1Idaho+55.7 per 1,000 (+111,459 people)
  2. 2South Carolina+54.7 per 1,000 (+299,962 people)
  3. 3Montana+44.6 per 1,000 (+50,720 people)
  4. 4Delaware+41.9 per 1,000 (+44,125 people)
  5. 5North Carolina+34.8 per 1,000 (+383,851 people)
  6. 6Florida+34.7 per 1,000 (+810,122 people)
  7. 7Maine+33.7 per 1,000 (+47,322 people)
  8. 8Tennessee+32.8 per 1,000 (+237,368 people)
  9. 9Arizona+29.3 per 1,000 (+222,465 people)
  10. 10South Dakota+22.8 per 1,000 (+21,045 people)

These two lists show 15 of the 51 ranked jurisdictions; the other 36 are not listed here. All 51 are ranked on the same measure in the migration table.

Lowest

  1. 47Louisiana-27.1 per 1,000 (-124,444 people)
  2. 48Illinois-31.1 per 1,000 (-395,721 people)
  3. 49Hawaii-31.8 per 1,000 (-46,018 people)
  4. 50California-35.5 per 1,000 (-1,397,897 people)
  5. 51New York-45.0 per 1,000 (-893,537 people)

All fifty-one jurisdictions carry this measure; none was excluded.

How it was computed

The figure for each of the 51 jurisdictions is the Census net domestic migration summed over 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, divided by the state's 2024 population estimate, times 1,000, and the list is sorted from highest to lowest. Both steps were checked for all 51: the four annual figures sum to the published four-year total in every case, and that total divided by population reproduces the displayed rate to within one millionth. Worked example, Idaho: 111,459 net domestic movers ÷ 2,001,619 residents × 1,000 = 55.684, displayed as +55.7 per 1,000. Worked example, New York: −893,537 ÷ 19,867,248 × 1,000 = −44.975, displayed as -45.0 per 1,000. Displayed values are rounded to one decimal; ranks are assigned on the unrounded figure (Rhode Island at -7.424 and Kansas at -7.420 both display as -7.4 but hold distinct ranks 39 and 38). Twenty-six jurisdictions are positive, twenty-five negative. No jurisdiction is missing a figure, so all 51 are ranked and none was excluded.

The other 6 rankings

Where the typical job pays most Where the Most Housing Is Authorised State Tax Collections per Resident The Most Distinctive Economies Growth Without Newcomers Which States Publish Machine-Readable Data
The Domestic Migration Ledger — Applied America