Top ten states that attract high-income families

A study highlights that seven of the top ten states receiving the most families are governed by Republicans.

Internal migration is an increasingly common phenomenon in the country. High-income Americans continually seek to relocate to states that offer them better living conditions, reduced costs and lower taxes. SmartAsset -a financial advisory company- conducted a study to identify which are the top ten destinations preferred by families with incomes over $200,000 per year.

Taxes play a fundamental role in the citizens' decision to move. Of the nine states in the country that do not tax income at the state level, four are in the top ten - Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada.

Households earning more than $200,000 a year account for only 7% of all tax returns filed in a year, but their movement between states can have a significant financial impact. The tax revenues of the region that loses these wealthy families may decrease and the economic situation of the state may worsen.

Ten favorite states of high income earners

SmartAsset researched the 2019 and 2020 tax returns of households with incomes of $200,000 or more, and compared the places of residence on the returns in both years. Eight of the top ten states were found to be located in the region stretching from the southeastern Atlantic coast to the southwestern Pacific coast, known as the Sun Belt.

1. Florida received 20,263 new households in just one year (2019-2020). The state governed by Ron DeSantis (R) is the favorite destination for high-income Americans to make their new life because of its good economic indexes and guarantee of freedoms.

2. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) welcomed 5,356 new households to the Lone Star State.

3. Arizona, governed by Doug Ducey (R), received 5,268 new families in the state.

Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina (D), received 4,713 new families.

5. South Carolina, governed by Henry McMaster (R), received 3,967 new homes.

6. Bill Lee (R), governor of Tennessee, welcomed 2,743 new families.

7. Governed by Jared Polis (D), Colorado received 2,624 new homes in the Centennial State.

8. Nevada, governed by Steve Sisolak (D), received 2,331 new families.

9. Governor Brad Little (R) welcomed 2,055 new homes in Idaho.

10. The Beehive State, Utah, governed by Spencer Cox (R), received 1,503 new families.

Seven of the ten states that received the largest number of families are governed by Republicans. The research also found that New York and California are the states from which most families flee annually, with nearly 20,000 American families moving in just one year in search of a better quality of life.