Taxes and Interstate Migration: 2024 Update
The latest IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
8 min read
Featured Articles
Taxes and Migration: New Evidence from Academic Research
Do taxes affect individuals’ decisions regarding where to live and work? Can high taxes cause the outmigration of wealthy individuals?
5 min read
Americans Moved to Low-Tax States in 2023
The pandemic has accelerated changes to the way we live and work, making it far easier for people to move—and they have. As states work to maintain their competitive advantage, they should pay attention to where people are moving, and try to understand why.
5 min readAll Related Articles
The Risks the Wealth Tax Advocates Are Ignoring
Voters in California this fall will have to determine whether the state will institute a billionaire tax. Advocates of this proposal have been pushing for these kinds of money grabs for decades—and their arguments often run the same. The base is narrow, the lifespan is limited, the cause is sympathetic.
Without Reform, the EU Cannot Afford New Taxes
Currently, the European Commission has plans to generate more tax revenue to fund the forthcoming MFF, the long-term budget running from 2028 to 2034. But the truth is, without serious reform, the EU isn’t ready for new taxation.
Mid-Year Movers and the California Wealth Tax
If approved by voters, the wealth tax will face a flurry of serious legal challenges—some to its overall constitutionality, and some regarding who can be taxed and to what degree if the tax survives broader legal scrutiny.
24 min read
Arkansas Cuts Income Tax Rates for the Fourth Time in Four Years
During a recent special session called by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), Arkansas policymakers cut the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates, continuing Arkansas’s years-long tax reform streak and making the Razorback State one of five states to cut income taxes so far in 2026.
5 min read
Minnesota Should Learn from Europe: Wealth Taxes Are a Failed Experiment
A new bill introduced in the Minnesota House seeks to tax non-real assets, imposing an annual tax of 1 percent on “taxable wealth” exceeding $10 million for individuals and trusts from tax year 2026 onward.
6 min read
Testimony: Illinois “Millionaire’s Tax” Would Hurt Small Businesses, Exacerbate Outmigration
Illinois’ proposed Millionaire’s Tax would raise taxes on Illinois families and businesses in an economically damaging way, further harming the state’s competitiveness and reducing economic opportunity even for those Illinois residents who would not owe the tax directly.
Americans Are Moving to States with Lower Taxes and Sound Tax Structures
Millions of Americans, along with significant amounts of income and economic activity, are moving from high-tax states to those with more competitive tax systems and lower overall costs of living.
8 min read
The State Income Tax Divergence
Lawmakers in many states continue to pursue additional income tax relief, while their counterparts elsewhere pursue the opposite goal.
3 min read
A 9.25 Percent Top Income Tax Rate Would Drive Jobs, Investment, and Economic Opportunity Out of Michigan
Michigan’s proposed 5 percent income surtax on high earners, yielding a top marginal rate of 9.25 percent, is also a tax on the small businesses that employ nearly 2 million Michiganders.
25 min read
2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index
The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
122 min read
Progressive Income Tax on the Ballot in Michigan?
If Michiganders are interested in increasing the state’s spending on education or other priorities—and believe that current revenues are insufficient to support such an increase—there are several ways to do so without significantly affecting residents’ incentives to live and work in Michigan.
4 min read
New Jersey Taxpayers Deserve Tax Relief
New Jersey’s residents deserve tax relief, and the state must stem the tide of out-migration. Affordable reforms in the near term could pave the way for more sweeping, and competitive, reforms to take root in the future.
Taxes Still Affect Economic Growth, Contrary to Findings of Flawed IPS Study
The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) only succeeds in demonstrating that America has more millionaires than it used to, not that high-tax states are doing well in attracting or retaining them.
7 min read
Pro-Growth Tax Reform for Oklahoma, 2025
Lawmakers should finish the work they have begun over the past few decades, tackling tax rates and structures to give the state a leg up in an era of enhanced competition.
84 min read
Proposed Estate Tax Changes in Oregon: A Long-Overdue Reform?
While evaluating new estate tax bills this legislative session, Oregon legislators should consider the state’s competitive tax landscape and interstate migration patterns.
4 min read
Governor Moore Proposes Major Tax Changes in Maryland to Address Chronic Budget Deficits
Facing a projected $3 billion budget deficit in fiscal year 2026, with forecasts of a growing gap over the next five years, Governor Wes Moore (D) has included about $1 billion in proposed tax increases in his budget proposal.
7 min read
Americans Moved to Low-Tax States in 2024
Americans were on the move in 2024, and many chose low-tax states over high-tax ones.
6 min read
Tax Competitiveness and Interstate Migration
Recent data suggest that tax competitiveness plays a significant role in residents’ relocation decisions.
3 min read
2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index
The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
115 min read
Taxes and Interstate Migration: 2024 Update
The latest IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
8 min read