10 States Where Rich Gen Xers Are Moving

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on SmartAsset.com.

In a 2021 report, the National Association of Realtors says that Gen Xers make up 24% of homebuyers from the past year, the highest of any generation in that time frame. The report also ranks the age group as the highest-earning generation out of all other homebuyers, with a median income of $113,300 in 2019. Having a higher income allows for the potential to invest more money and be better prepared for retirement. Some states have attracted more high-earning Gen Xers in recent years, and a new study by SmartAsset analyzed data to identify the top states to which Gen Xers who make at least $100,000 per year are moving.

For this study, we considered inflows and outflows of Gen Xers making at least $100,000 for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, check out the Data and Methodology section at the end.

This is SmartAsset’s 2021 edition of our study on where rich Gen Xers are moving. Check out the 2020 version here.

1. Florida

Florida gained a net of 9,529 Gen X residents earning at least $100,000 per year from 2018 to 2019. The biggest inflow came from people ages 45 to 54 years old, earning between $100,000 and $200,000 per year; 7,772 people fitting that demographic moved into Florida over that time period.

2. Texas

Texas gained a total of 7,133 well-paid Gen Xers from 2018-2019. The raw total of Gen Xers making at least $100,000 who moved to the state was 24,340, while 17,207 of them left.

3. North Carolina

More than 8,000 rich Gen Xers left North Carolina from 2018-2019, but 11,189 moved into North Carolina over the same year. The state had a net in-migration of 3,121 Gen Xers for that time period.

4. Arizona

Arizona attracted 8,482 new rich Gen Xers, while 5,556 moved out over the time period we looked at. The state had a net gain of 2,926 Gen Xers earning at least $100,000 per year from 2018 to 2019.

5. South Carolina

South Carolina had a net gain of 2,301 rich Gen Xers from 2018-2019. The biggest influx was of Gen Xers earning at least $100,000 but less than $200,000 per year.

6. Tennessee

From 2018-2019, the Volunteer State gained 6,854 Gen Xers earning at least $100,000 per year, while 4,671 of them left the state. This leaves Tennessee with a net gain of 2,183 for that time period.

7. Idaho

One of the five states in our top 10 that are located in the West, Idaho comes in at No. 7. It saw a net gain of 1,573 rich Gen Xers from 2018-2019. The state saw an inflow of 2,743 and an outflow of 1,170.

8. Colorado

Colorado attracted 8,810 well-off Gen X residents in 2018-2019, while 7,458 left. That leaves the state with a net gain of 1,352 rich members of the generation that followed the baby boomers.

9. Washington

Washington state’s biggest increase of rich Gen Xers from 2018-2019 came from people earning between $100,000 and $200,000. The net total increase of residents from this age group and income bracket was 1,287.

10. Nevada

Nevada claims the No. 10 spot in our study, with a 2018-2019 net migration of 1,196 Gen Xers earning at least $100,000. The state had an inflow of 4,278 people in this demographic and an outflow of 3,082.

Data and Methodology

To determine where rich Generation X members are moving, we looked at data from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. We defined rich Gen Xers as individuals ages 35 to 54 who have adjusted gross incomes of $100,000 and above. More specifically, we looked at the following two metrics:

• Inflow of rich Gen Xers. This is the number of individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 with adjusted gross incomes of at least $100,000 who moved into the state. Data comes from the IRS and is for 2018-2019.
• Outflow of rich Gen Xers. This is the number of individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 with adjusted gross incomes of at least $100,000 who moved out of the state. Data comes from the IRS and is for 2018-2019.

We then subtracted the outflow from the inflow of rich Gen Xers to determine each state’s net inflow. We ranked the states from highest net inflow of Gen Xers to lowest net inflow.