Not every state with zero income tax is winning the migration race — and that’s the part most “move to a tax-free state” articles skip. Wyoming and South Dakota both levy no personal income tax at all, yet World Population Review’s 2025 inbound/outbound data shows both states losing residents on net (42% and 44% inbound share, respectively). Meanwhile, Texas added 56,473 tax filers and $5.5 billion in adjusted gross income in the most recent IRS migration data, and Florida pulled in more new AGI than any other state in the country. This report cross-references the nine states with no personal income tax against real IRS, Census, and industry migration data to show which ones are actually gaining movers — and which ones the “no income tax” pitch doesn’t seem to be working for.
Quick answer: Of the nine no-income-tax states, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, and Washington show consistent net inbound migration across multiple independent data sources (IRS, U-Haul, and mover-tracked datasets). Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alaska show flat or negative net migration despite having no income tax, and New Hampshire’s growth is driven almost entirely by one neighboring state, not a broad national pull.
The 9 States With No Personal Income Tax in 2026
According to the Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, nine states currently levy no tax on wage income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire completed its phase-out of the state’s tax on interest and dividend income at the start of 2025, making it the most recent state to reach true zero-income-tax status. Washington is a partial exception worth flagging: it has no wage income tax, but does levy a 7% capital gains tax on long-term gains above a set threshold, so it isn’t a pure no-tax state for high earners with investment income.
Which No-Income-Tax States Are Actually Gaining Movers
Having no income tax is a headline, not a guarantee. Cross-referencing IRS Statistics of Income migration data, the U-Haul Growth Index, and 2025 mover-tracked data from HireAHelper against 2025 inbound/outbound survey data from World Population Review produces a clear split.
| State | 2025 Inbound Share | IRS Net Filer Gain (latest data) | U-Haul Growth Index 2025 Rank |
| Tennessee | 57% inbound | +24,104 filers | #4 |
| Washington | 57% inbound | Net positive, small | #6 |
| Nevada | 52% inbound | Positive (top 10 UVL inbound) | Top 20 |
| Alaska | 52% inbound | Data limited | Not ranked |
| Florida | 51% inbound | +55,349 filers, +$20.6B AGI | #2 |
| Texas | 50% (evenly split) | +56,473 filers, +$5.5B AGI | #1 |
| New Hampshire | ~52% inbound (2024 data) | +6,800 total pop. growth | Not ranked |
| South Dakota | 44% inbound (net loss) | Data limited | Not ranked |
| Wyoming | 42% inbound (net loss) | Data limited | Not ranked |
Notice that Texas, the single largest recipient of both IRS-reported filers and AGI among no-tax states, shows up as only evenly split in the World Population Review inbound/outbound share — a reminder that raw share-of-moves and absolute headcount gain measure different things. A state can have roughly equal inbound and outbound move volume while still adding tens of thousands of net new residents, simply because it’s a much bigger state to begin with.
Texas: The Largest Net Gainer by Dollar Volume
Texas leads every major dataset in absolute terms. It topped the U-Haul Growth Index for 2025 — based on an analysis of roughly 2.5 million one-way truck rental transactions — for the second year running. HireAHelper’s proprietary 2025 mover-tracking data, covering nearly 15 million tracked adult moves, found Texas gained 68,318 residents on net — more than any other state in their dataset. The IRS’s own tax-return migration data, tracked through the SOI Migration Data program, shows Texas gaining 56,473 filers and $5.5 billion in adjusted gross income in the latest complete filing-year comparison. Three independently-built datasets, three different methodologies, the same conclusion: Texas is the biggest absolute winner among no-income-tax states.
Florida: Fewer New Filers, More New Money
Florida presents an interesting contrast to Texas. It gained fewer tax filers (55,349) than Texas in the IRS data, but pulled in far more adjusted gross income — $20.6 billion, the largest AGI gain of any state in the country, according to the Tax Foundation’s analysis of IRS data. That combination — fewer households, more income — points to Florida disproportionately attracting higher-income movers, consistent with its reputation as a landing spot for retirees, remote-work professionals, and relocating business owners rather than a broad-based population magnet. Florida ranked #2 on the U-Haul Growth Index for 2025, behind only Texas.
Tennessee: The Highest Inbound Share of Any No-Tax State
Tennessee posted the highest inbound-move share (57%) of any no-income-tax state in World Population Review’s 2025 data, tied with Washington. It ranked #4 on the U-Haul Growth Index and gained 24,104 net tax filers in IRS data — a smaller absolute number than Texas or Florida, reflecting the state’s smaller population base, but a strong result on a proportional basis. HireAHelper’s 2025 dataset shows an even larger net gain of 30,457 residents, reinforcing the pattern across sources.
Where the “No Income Tax = Growth” Story Breaks Down
Wyoming and South Dakota are both genuine zero-income-tax states, and both are currently losing residents on net. World Population Review’s 2025 data puts Wyoming at 42% inbound share and South Dakota at 44% — meaning more moves out of each state than into it. Neither state appears on the U-Haul Growth Index top 10 or the United Van Lines top inbound list. The likely explanation isn’t the tax code; it’s that both states have small, slow-growing job markets and limited major metro areas, and interstate movers consistently weight job availability and cost of living alongside — not instead of — state tax policy.
New Hampshire’s case is more nuanced still. The state added roughly 6,800 residents between July 2024 and July 2025, according to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute’s analysis of Census Bureau estimates — but that growth is disproportionately driven by one adjacent state. The Institute notes New Hampshire “has continued to rely on in-migration from other states, predominantly from neighboring Massachusetts,” suggesting the pull is more about proximity and Boston-area cost-of-living arbitrage than a nationwide zero-tax draw.
A Methodology Caveat Worth Knowing Before You Trust Any Single Ranking
Different data sources genuinely disagree on how strong Texas and Florida’s pull still is. The United Van Lines 2025 National Movers Study, which tracks its own household-goods shipments rather than one-way truck rentals or IRS filings, found that “Texas and Florida — historically powerhouse inbound destinations — are now experiencing balanced migration patterns,” with Nevada newly appearing in the top 10 inbound states instead. That’s a meaningfully different read than the U-Haul and IRS data above. The likely reason: United Van Lines’ customer base skews toward full-service household moves, which are more expensive and disproportionately used by higher-income movers, while U-Haul’s one-way rental data captures a much broader, more price-sensitive population. If you’re using migration data to make a personal moving decision, check more than one source — each captures a different slice of who’s actually moving.
Where the Money Is Leaving: The States Losing the Most
The flip side of the no-tax states’ gains is concentrated in a handful of high-tax states. IRS data tracked by the Tax Foundation shows California lost 100,397 filers and $11.9 billion in AGI, and New York lost 71,987 filers and $9.9 billion in AGI, in the most recent complete filing-year comparison — the two largest losses of any state by a wide margin. Illinois (-28,609 filers, -$6 billion AGI), New Jersey (-19,370 filers, -$2.55 billion AGI), and Massachusetts (-15,378 filers, -$3.9 billion AGI) round out the top five losing states. HireAHelper’s 2025 mover-tracking data shows a similar ranking by household count: California (-98,568), New York (-55,905), Massachusetts (-26,475), and Illinois (-18,398).
Quick win: If a no-tax state’s appeal to you is purely financial, run the math on total tax burden, not just income tax — Tennessee and Washington both lean more heavily on sales and property tax to make up the difference, which can offset some of the income-tax savings depending on your spending and homeownership situation.
Nevada and Alaska: The Two Overlooked Cases
Nevada rarely gets the same headline treatment as Texas or Florida, but the data shows it quietly performing well. It appeared as a new entrant to the United Van Lines top 10 inbound states list for 2025, and World Population Review’s inbound/outbound data puts it at 52% inbound share — matching Alaska and outperforming Texas’s even split. Nevada’s proximity to California, combined with no income tax and a lower cost of living than most of the West Coast, makes it a natural landing spot for Californians leaving the state’s IRS-documented $11.9 billion AGI outflow.
Alaska is the trickiest case in this entire dataset. It technically shows a net positive inbound share (52%) in the 2025 World Population Review figures, yet it’s also flagged elsewhere as having weak long-term domestic outmigration trends, and it doesn’t appear on the U-Haul Growth Index top 10 or the United Van Lines inbound list. The likely explanation is Alaska’s small overall population and unique migration patterns tied to seasonal and military relocation, which can push the inbound/outbound share around from year to year without reflecting a durable growth trend the way Texas or Tennessee’s numbers do. Treat single-year Alaska figures with more caution than the larger, more consistently-tracked states in this list.
Understanding the IRS Data Lag Before You Draw Conclusions
One important caveat applies to every IRS-sourced figure in this report: IRS Statistics of Income migration data is built from tax returns, which means it always lags real-time moves by roughly 18 to 24 months. The most recent complete IRS filing-year comparison available reflects migration that happened one to two years before the data’s publication date — it is not a live snapshot of 2026 moving activity. That’s exactly why this report cross-references IRS data against more current sources like the 2025 U-Haul Growth Index and mover-tracked datasets from HireAHelper: the newer sources capture what’s happening right now, while IRS data confirms whether that recent activity matches the longer, more methodologically rigorous trend the government dataset has already established. When the two agree, as they do for Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, that’s a much stronger signal than either source alone.
Frequently Asked Questions About No Income Tax States and Moving
Which no-income-tax state is gaining the most residents in 2026?
Texas is the largest net gainer in absolute terms across IRS filer counts, U-Haul Growth Index rank (#1), and HireAHelper’s tracked mover data. Florida gains the most in total adjusted gross income, per IRS data analyzed by the Tax Foundation.
Do all nine no-income-tax states have positive net migration?
No. Wyoming and South Dakota both show net outbound migration in 2025 inbound/outbound data from World Population Review, despite having no personal income tax. Having no income tax does not guarantee a state attracts more movers than it loses.
Is Washington really a no-income-tax state?
Washington has no tax on wage income, but it does levy a 7% capital gains tax on long-term gains above a set annual threshold, so high earners with significant investment income should factor that in before assuming it is fully tax-free.
Why do Texas and Florida rank differently across different migration data sources?
Different datasets track different populations. U-Haul and IRS data show both states as top gainers, while United Van Lines’ 2025 National Movers Study, which tracks full-service household shipments, found both states showing more balanced inbound/outbound patterns — likely because their customer base skews toward a different income segment than one-way truck renters.
Which states are losing the most residents to no-income-tax states?
California and New York show the largest losses in IRS migration data, at 100,397 and 71,987 net filers respectively in the most recent complete filing-year comparison, followed by Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
Is New Hampshire’s population growth really about its tax policy?
Partially. New Hampshire eliminated its last remaining income tax (on interest and dividends) in 2025, but its Fiscal Policy Institute attributes most of the state’s recent population growth to in-migration from neighboring Massachusetts specifically, suggesting proximity and cost-of-living differences play at least as large a role as tax policy.
The Bottom Line
“No income tax” correlates with inbound migration for five of the nine states — Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada, and Washington — across multiple independent data sources. It does not reliably predict growth for Wyoming, South Dakota, or Alaska, where job markets, climate, and metro-area availability appear to matter more than the tax code. If a no-tax state is on your shortlist, treat the tax savings as one input among several, and check IRS SOI migration data for your specific target state before assuming the “no income tax” headline tells the whole story.
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