By Rob Lenihan
SEPTEMBER 8, 2023
An analysis of 2021 tax data shows even high-earning millennials are increasingly attracted to low-cost locales. Where are they going? Florida tops the list.
CONYERS, Ga. – They’re young, they’ve got money, and they’re on the move.
A recent analysis by SmartAsset, which examined IRS data from 2021, found that New York and California lost the most residents aged 26 to 35 with annual incomes of at least $200,000.
There are likely many reasons these folks are relocating, not the least of which is cheaper living. Because while pulling in $200,000 a year may sound impressive, it’s about what you do with that money that begets wealth. A study by PYMTS and Lending Club found that about one in four people in this income bracket are living paycheck to paycheck.
Florida and Texas, the top two states by net migration as identified by SmartAsset’s report, have no state income tax and generally lower home prices.
They’re also home to “newer tech hot spots like Austin and Miami,” Jaclyn DeJohn, SmartAsset’s managing editor of economic analysis, noted.
New Jersey, the lone northeastern state to experience a net migration in 2021 of at least 700 residents in this income and age bracket, “offers close proximity to the career, social and entertainment opportunities of New York City, with the potential to save money while living a suburban lifestyle: A best-of-both-worlds type situation,” DeJohn said.
In general, the pandemic sparked a radical rethinking of the work environment. As offices closed, companies turned to Zoom, Slack, and other methods of staying connected with their employees.
With the office in limbo, or, in some cases, eliminated entirely, people were able to rethink their living and working arrangements.
A report by the Brookings Institution said that while residential movement – a change of address within the same county – fell to its lowest rate since 1947 during the first two years of the pandemic, longer-distance movement across counties and states picked up.
