The U.S. States Attracting the Most Wealthy Millennials

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Upgraded Points.

The millennial generation — those currently aged 27 to 42 — is America’s largest, and as they move solidly into their peak earning and spending years, they are quickly asserting their economic power.

Millennials faced a tough economic outlook in their early working years. The impacts of the Great Recession, unprecedented levels of student loan debt, and stagnant wage growth made it difficult to find good jobs and build wealth. But over time, the outlook has improved.

Millennials are now the largest segment of the labor force. Within the last few years, they have also become the largest share of homebuyers.

Tightness in the labor market for much of the pandemic also allowed many workers to change jobs in the last few years — sometimes multiple times — in search of higher wages or better working conditions.

And after working remotely during the pandemic, many workers have since successfully pushed for permanent work-from-home or other flexible arrangements that give them more control over where they work.

Because of these trends, the U.S. experienced a sharp rise in the rate of people moving across state lines from densely populated and expensive states to those offering some combination of more affordable housing, space for home offices, lower taxes, and better recreational opportunities. Such moves were common among wealthy millennials.

Here are the states attracting the most wealthy millennials.

1. Vermont

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +8.5%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +716
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 1,130
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 414
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$124,231,000

2. Idaho

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +7.4%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +2,563
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 3,738
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 1,175
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$228,880,000

3. Montana

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +6.7%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +1,160
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 1,719
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 559
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$204,212,000

4. Florida

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +5.6%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +16,946
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 26,860
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 9,914
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$6,919,040,000

5. Maine

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +5.5%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +926
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 1,580
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 654
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$139,638,000

6. Tennessee

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +4.5%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +4,742
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 8,364
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 3,622
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$986,881,000

7. New Hampshire

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +4.4%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +1,434
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 2,676
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 1,242
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$229,277,000

8. South Carolina

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +4.3%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +2,957
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 5,546
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 2,589
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$365,300,000

9. Connecticut

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +3.3%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +3,795
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 8,719
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 4,924
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$887,761,000

10. Hawaii

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +3.0%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +561
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 1,857
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 1,296
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$160,624,000

11. North Carolina

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +2.9%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +5,602
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 12,326
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 6,724
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$729,351,000

12. Nevada

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +2.9%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +1,196
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 3,818
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 2,622
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$902,050,000

13. Utah

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +2.7%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +2,850
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 5,631
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 2,781
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$355,977,000

14. Texas

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +2.3%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +15,988
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 33,426
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 17,438
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$3,230,831,000

15. Colorado

• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Percent): +1.9%
• Net Gain or Loss of Wealthy Millennials (Total): +3,359
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved In: 10,860
• Total Wealthy Millennials Who Moved Out: 7,501
• Tax Base Change From Wealthy Millennial Movers: +$836,819,000

Methodology

To determine the states attracting the most wealthy millennials, researchers at Upgraded Points analyzed the latest data from the IRS Statistics of Income Division’s 2021 U.S. Population Migration Data.

The researchers ranked locations according to the net inbound migration of wealthy millennials as a percentage of wealthy millennial residents the year prior.

For the purposes of this analysis, net gain or loss of wealthy millennials was defined as the difference between those millennials who moved into and those millennials who moved out of a given state based on individual tax return data spanning two years.

Additionally, wealthy millennials were defined as those ages 26 to 45 in the year 2021 who reported earning over $200,000 on their 2021 federal income tax returns. In the event of a tie, the location with the larger net inbound migration of wealthy millennials was ranked higher.