Tennessee In Top 10 States Attracting Migration From High Earning Households

Image Credit: SmartAsset

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

As we have been hearing over the past 3 years, Americans are starting to vote with their feet, and thus their wallets.

As Tennesseans, while driving around town, we have begun to become accustomed to seeing the cars in front of us at the stop, that have a license plate from another state. Some of which are from quite far away. Tennessee appears to be a welcome respite for individuals from other states that have become intolerable, for various reasons.

COVID lockdowns, vaccine mandates, BLM and Antifa riots in the streets, looting of local business, random physical violence or even a gunshot to the head have become much more common place in states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and California.

People are moving to places where they feel they can just live their lives like they always had before and a new study from Smart Asset is showing not just where these people are moving to, but that they are some of highest income earners making an average of about $200,000 per year.

The following is a snapshot of the key takeaways from this report, but you can read the whole report in its entirety here.

Topping off the list is, of course, the state of Florida. Florida added a whopping 27,500 high-earning residents or as the study calls them “filers” since they used IRS data to compile the list.

The gain was counted even after accounting for outflows, or those who left the state in the same fiscal year. Many would attribute this success to the way the state is being managed by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed many bills into law over the past three years that the residents felt put an emphasis on their individual rights. Parental rights, 2A, Anti-Abortion, and Anti-CRT legislation have all seen net positives under Governor DeSantis’ administration. 

In a somewhat distant second place is Texas, which added 9,000 high earning filers to their state population after accounting for outflow. Texas has traditionally been a red state for many years and began to see an influx of new residents from western states like California in the late nineties into the early 2000’s. 

Speaking of California, that state along with New York had the largest net losses of all states losing more than 45,000 and 31,000 high-earning filers, respectively. California’s growth for the first time in 100 years has stagnated, as evidenced by a net outflow of high earners accelerated significantly (40%) from the previous year’s outflow.

Tennessee gets a mention as one of 7 states that make up part of the top 20, which are located in the south.  Tennessee saw an influx of 7,353 high income filers, after accounting for the outflow of 3,436, leaving a net positive of 3,917. 

Finally, one of the most conspicuous pieces of data revealed by this report, is that high earners are also leaving the nation’s Capitol at quite a rapid clip. Washington D.C. lost a net total of 2,009 high-earning households between 2020 and 2021. As a percentage of all filers, high earners left D.C. at a faster rate than any state. 

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.