Florida may be known as a retirement destination, but it attracts many young – and wealthy – newcomers. Florida is the No. 1 state to bring in and keep the young and rich, according to a recent analysis by SmartAsset, which ranked states by net migration.
The financial site determined the states in which the most young professionals between the ages of 26 and 35 earn an adjusted gross income of at least $200,000 per year, based on the most recent publicly available 2021 IRS numbers.
That year, some 3,391 high-earning youth moved to Florida; 1,216 left, leaving the state with a net migration of 2,175 wealthy youth as determined by SmartAsset.
In second place, Texas saw the second largest wave of young and wealthy newcomers, adding 4,048 over the course of a year. (California has the largest influx in the US with nearly 5,000 new taxpayers in this demographic.) However, the Lone Star State also saw a large outflow of young wealthy people leaving (more than 2,000 taxpayers), resulting in a net migration of 1,909.
And third in New Jersey, where wealthy people of all ages generally left the state at a rapid rate, it also brought in 1,048 new wealthy young professionals in the same year. “This was the most dramatic reversal of overall trends,” Jaclyn DeJohn, editor-in-chief of economic analysis at SmartAsset, wrote in the report.
Here’s where young Americans who bring in at least $200,000 a year move to:
States like Florida and Texas stand out for young wealthy people for a number of reasons, DeJohn tells CNBC Make It. They are home to newer technology hotspots such as Austin and Miami, where opportunities “can attract people with niche or exceptional skills and experience who want to advance their careers.” Warm weather and zero income taxes in both states are also a selling point.
New Jersey, meanwhile, offers “proximity to New York City’s career, social, and entertainment opportunities, with the potential to save money while living in a suburb.” For young people, this can be “a situation of the best of both worlds,” says DeJohn, while older residents may already be retired or have less to gain in the job market.
In addition, New Jersey’s “high property taxes contribute greatly to a highly competitive public school system, which is also much more helpful to young families than to retirees,” she adds.
New York and California have the highest numbers of young high earners of any state “by a wide margin,” says DeJohn, and also boast some of the highest inflows of young, wealthy people in the US.
Nearly 4,000 young wealthy taxpayers moved to New York in 2021, while nearly 5,000 called California their new home; However, both states lost more than 9,000 people from the same demographic, putting them at the bottom of the list of the young and wealthy.
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