Florida defeats all others states in adding taxable income

In some respects, the story of Florida gaining more people, usually at the expense of New York, is getting as common as a Sunshine State July afternoon rainstorm.

But one new report on that topic from Illinois-based independent economic analysis firm Wirepoints puts actual dollars to the influx of people — and Florida, again, is the big winner. For starters, the state attracted a net gain of 126,789 new people and $17.7 billion in new taxable income in 2019 according to the report, which analyzed IRS migration and tax data. That’s about 2.7% of the state’s total taxable 2018 Adjusted Gross Income, the report adds. (Florida actually added some $34 billion in AGI from 558,096 new residents in 2018, but it lost $15.6 billion in AGI from 431,307 people who left the state.)

That net gain of $17.7 billion is more than four times the gain posted by the No. 2 state in the report, Texas, which added $4 billion. Arizona is No. 3, followed by North Carolina and South Carolina. States that lost the most people and income include the usual suspects, with New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland making the top five.

The authors of the study point out the stakes are large — and go beyond bragging rights. “A growing population for the winners means an increasing tax base, economic growth and investment,” the report states. “For the biggest losers, it means more difficulties in paying down debts, higher taxes and fewer investments for the future.”