Where people moved in 2025: smaller net flows between states

The map of American moving has not reversed, but it has flattened. In the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, the same broad pattern holds as in every year since 2020: the Southeast gains people from other states, and California, New York and Illinois lose them. What changed is the size. The largest net gain in the year to June 2025, 84,064 in North Carolina, is the smallest leading gain of the five estimate years, against Florida's 310,892 in the year to June 2022, and California's net domestic migration, −229,077, is less than half the size of its −470,759¹ four years earlier.

North Carolina84,064

Texas67,299

South Carolina66,622

Tennessee42,389

Arizona31,107

Georgia27,333

Alabama23,358

Florida22,517

Idaho19,915

Nevada14,914

Oklahoma14,492

Arkansas14,475

Missouri14,028

Indiana12,197

Ohio11,926

Washington9,238

Minnesota8,300

Maine7,406

Kentucky7,269

Wisconsin6,984

Delaware6,855

New Hampshire6,554

West Virginia6,408

Montana6,348

Virginia6,268

Utah3,343

Oregon2,228

South Dakota2,169

Michigan1,796

Wyoming1,474

North Dakota512

Nebraska−366

Kansas−519

Vermont−726

Mississippi−917

Iowa−970

Rhode Island−1,551

New Mexico−2,267

Pennsylvania−2,936

District of Columbia−4,128

Alaska−4,525

Connecticut−5,945

Hawaii−8,876

Colorado−12,100

Maryland−12,127

Louisiana−14,387

Massachusetts−33,340

New Jersey−37,428

Illinois−40,017

New York−137,586

California−229,077

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

Show the numbers

State	Net domestic migration 2024-25
North Carolina	84,064
Texas	67,299
South Carolina	66,622
Tennessee	42,389
Arizona	31,107
Georgia	27,333
Alabama	23,358
Florida	22,517
Idaho	19,915
Nevada	14,914
Oklahoma	14,492
Arkansas	14,475
Missouri	14,028
Indiana	12,197
Ohio	11,926
Washington	9,238
Minnesota	8,300
Maine	7,406
Kentucky	7,269
Wisconsin	6,984
Delaware	6,855
New Hampshire	6,554
West Virginia	6,408
Montana	6,348
Virginia	6,268
Utah	3,343
Oregon	2,228
South Dakota	2,169
Michigan	1,796
Wyoming	1,474
North Dakota	512
Nebraska	−366
Kansas	−519
Vermont	−726
Mississippi	−917
Iowa	−970
Rhode Island	−1,551
New Mexico	−2,267
Pennsylvania	−2,936
District of Columbia	−4,128
Alaska	−4,525
Connecticut	−5,945
Hawaii	−8,876
Colorado	−12,100
Maryland	−12,127
Louisiana	−14,387
Massachusetts	−33,340
New Jersey	−37,428
Illinois	−40,017
New York	−137,586
California	−229,077

The states people moved to in 2025

31 states gained more residents from other states than they lost. After North Carolina, the largest net gains were in Texas (67,299), South Carolina (66,622), Tennessee (42,389) and Arizona (31,107¹). Seven of the top ten are in the South.

Per resident the order changes. South Carolina gained 12.1 per 1,000 residents, the highest in the nation, ahead of Idaho (9.9 per 1,000 residents), North Carolina (7.6 per 1,000 residents) and Delaware (6.5 per 1,000 residents). Texas, second in raw numbers, ranks 19th highest on this measure (2.1 per 1,000 residents), because its gain is spread across a population of more than 31.7 million¹.

Three leaders in five years

The top of the table has changed hands twice in five years, from Florida to Texas to North Carolina, and the leading gain has been smaller every year since 2022.

California has been at the bottom in every year. North Carolina reached first place without a larger net gain of its own: its net gain was 103,627 in the year to June 2021 (3rd highest) and 84,064¹ in 2025. It moved up because the states above it fell back.

Florida and Texas fell back; the Carolinas held

The sharpest change is in Florida. Its net gain from other states peaked at 310,892 in the year to June 2022 and then fell in each of the next three years, to 22,517, the 8th highest among the states. Texas's gain also peaked in the year to June 2022, at 218,840, and was 67,299¹ in 2025, with the steepest drop in the year to June 2024. Arizona and Idaho, two of the largest gainers in 2021, also took in far fewer.

Net domestic migration, years from July 1 to June 30. Source: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025.

The second group looks different. South Carolina and Alabama stayed within a narrow band across the five years, and the 2025 gains of North Carolina and Tennessee were close to their 2024 figures. Over the full period from April 2020 to June 2025, Florida still had the largest cumulative gain, 890,348¹, but most of it came in the first three years.

The largest losses shrank too, with exceptions

At the other end, California's net loss in the year to June 2025 was the smallest of the five estimate years, and so was Illinois's (−40,017, against −149,904 in 2022). The pattern is not uniform. New York's loss grew again, from −119,231 to −137,586, after shrinking for three years, and Massachusetts's net loss was larger than in 2024: −33,340, against −19,195¹.

Per resident, New York had the largest net loss (−6.9 per 1,000 residents), followed by Hawaii (−6.2 per 1,000 residents), Alaska (−6.1 per 1,000 residents) and the District of Columbia (−6.0 per 1,000 residents). California, the largest loser in numbers, is 5th lowest¹ on this measure.

States that switched sides in 2025

Several states crossed zero. Michigan gained 1,796 from other states after four years of net losses, and Minnesota gained 8,300, also after four years of losses. Oregon (2,228) returned to a gain after three years of losses. Washington and Virginia posted gains for a second year in a row, 9,238 and 6,268¹, after losses from 2021 to 2023.

Colorado moved the other way. It gained residents from other states in each year from 2021 to 2024, then recorded a net loss in the year to June 2025: −12,100, the 8th lowest figure among the states. Vermont recorded its second year of small net losses (−726¹) after three years of gains. These are single-year estimates of a few thousand people either way, and every new vintage revises them, so a state near zero can change sides in the next release.

Fewer arrivals from abroad changed the balance

Domestic migration slowed in the same year that net international migration to the country fell by more than half, from 2,734,468 to 1,262,202. In the year to June 2024, arrivals from abroad more than offset the domestic losses of the two largest losers: total net migration was 71,150 in California and 171,406 in New York. In the year to June 2025 they no longer did: total net migration was −119,799 in California, the lowest in the nation, and −41,952 in New York, the 2nd lowest. California's population changed by −9,465 between July 2024 and July 2025, a decline; New York's rose by only 1,008¹.

Florida shows the reverse case. Its net gain from abroad, 178,674, the highest of any state, was several times its gain from other states, so it still grew by 196,680¹ residents.

Net figures hide much larger moves

The Census Bureau's population estimates give only the balance of moves. The American Community Survey, a separate survey with its own period and margins of error, counts people who lived in another state a year earlier. In 2024, an estimated 661,205 (±23,293) people left California for another state, the highest in the nation, while 406,873 (±18,172) moved in. Florida drew the most movers from other states, 573,876 (±25,867), but also lost 506,246 (±22,097³). The two sources measure different things over different periods and should not be combined. Both show the same point: each net figure is the small difference between two much larger flows, so a modest change in either flow moves the net a long way.

For California, the largest single destination in 2024 was Texas (77,161 people, statistically larger than the flow to Nevada). People leaving Florida went most often to Georgia (52,371) and Texas (52,219³); the two flows are not statistically different.

Every state, five years of net domestic migration

Sort by any column. Positive values mean the state gained more residents from other states than it lost.

How these numbers are made

Net domestic migration comes from the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program, for each year from July 1 to June 30. The estimates carry no margin of error, but with each annual release the Bureau revises the whole series back to the last census. The Vintage 2026 release, expected in December 2026, will restate every year shown here and add the year to June 2026. The estimates give only the net balance, so a smaller net figure does not by itself mean fewer people moved. The ACS flows above come from the 2024 survey and are shown with their 90% margins of error.