Ioana Ginsac 
Key Takeaways:
- NYC saw more taxpayers leaving the five boroughs than outside residents moving in
- Half of New Yorkers leaving the five boroughs relocated within the greater tri-state area, with Florida being the second-most popular destination
- Within the city, Brooklyn and Manhattan saw the most residents relocating to other boroughs
- The tri-state area and California were the main sources of new NYC residents moving in
- Between NYC and the country’s top tech hubs, NYC attracted more residents than it gave up
- Among New Yorkers migrating out, New Jersey and Florida were the top destinations of choice
- Income data showed that only earners making at least $100,000 per year were more likely to seek New York than to leave it
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 sent ripples through practically every aspect of life, culture and the economy in the U.S. And, when remote work was at an all-time high during the first few years of the pandemic, a wave of domestic migration swept the country as residents of high-cost gateway metros sought financial relief and a better chance at the dream of homeownership.
Although NYC was not spared from the outflow of residents moving away, it nevertheless continued to attract transplants from elsewhere in the country. So, for a more granular understanding of recent domestic migration in and out of the five boroughs, we looked at the most recent IRS data on year-to-year address changes reported on individual income tax returns. Read our findings below.
352,000 Residents Leave NYC, Half Stay in Tri-State Area
NYC was among several large cities in the U.S. to be negatively affected by domestic migration. In fact, according to 2022 IRS stats, roughly 174,400 people moved to NYC in 2022, whereas a total of around 352,100 left the city. This resulted in a net loss of nearly 177,800 New Yorkers.
Notably, about half of outgoing New Yorkers didn’t move very far: Data showed that approximately 161,400 of those 352,100 moved elsewhere within the state or out to New Jersey. Then, when adding the nearly 17,500 transplants to Connecticut, we see that almost 179,000 residents (nearly 51%) who left NYC remained in the tri-state area.
Read on for a deeper dive into the ins and outs of NYC migration, including where Big Apple residents moved to in the U.S., where new residents came from and what the migrating currents looked like in terms of income bracket.
Taking a Break From the Neighborhood: 125,500 New Yorkers Shuffle Between Boroughs
IRS migration data showed that about 125,500 residents moved within the city from one borough to another. As you might expect, Manhattan was the destination of choice for a little more than 26,000 New Yorkers from the outer boroughs. The skyscraper-laden island became home to more than 10,800 former Brooklyn residents; around 8,400 from the Bronx; just more than 6,000 residents formerly residing in Queens; and a little more than 700 from Staten Island.
At the same time, more than 35,300 New York County residents changed their address to the outer boroughs. With recent home sales in Manhattan changing hands for a median price of $1 million — as well as a housing stock that’s notoriously insufficient on the high-density island — the borough’s overall net migration loss of nearly 9,300 residents is hardly surprising.
Among the five boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens received the most New Yorkers from elsewhere in the city. Brooklyn became home to 35,500 residents from other boroughs, including about 16,400 from Manhattan; roughly 12,600 from Queens; and nearly 4,000 from the Bronx.
Meanwhile, about 33,300 New Yorkers moved to Queens from a different borough, most of them hailing from Brooklyn. As a matter of fact, the roughly 19,300 residents to move their tax return address from Brooklyn to Queens was more than the influx from Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island combined.
Keeping It Metro: In-Migration From New York State & Tri-State Area
The largest influx of new residents from counties outside of the five boroughs originated in Nassau County, N.Y. (12,692). It was followed by Westchester County, N.Y., with 9,564 and Suffolk County, N.Y. (7,323). In total, nearly 40,500 New York state residents from 24 counties moved to NYC in 2022.
Next, New Jersey yielded nearly 23,800 new New Yorkers during that same time — the largest cohort of incoming residents from a different state. Our recent analysis of out-of-state and local homebuyers of NYC property found that this may have been a persistent trend as New Jersey residents remained the most active out-of-state homebuyers here throughout the last decade.
Meanwhile, about 7,500 Connecticut residents also moved to NYC. Overall, this added up to a NYC in-migration of nearly 71,800 from the greater tri-state area.
No Continent Too Wide: West Coast Migration to NYC
California followed New Jersey as the second-largest out-of-state source of incoming New Yorkers (a total of just more than 16,000). In this case, county-level data showed that a little more than 5,400 Los Angelenos chose to move to NYC, marking the largest influx from a county outside of New York state.
Not to be outdone, San Francisco was the second-largest California source of incoming New Yorkers during that same time (roughly 2,990) for the 10th-largest overall influx.
Notably, NYC transplants from San Francisco added up to more than the combined number of residents moving to NYC from the other two West Coast states (2,202 from Washington state and 720 from Oregon).
More New Yorkers Came From Major Tech Hubs Than Moved There
Overall, there was a higher number of counties to which NYC lost more residents than it gained during the surveyed period. However, looking at the other end of the scale (positive net migration), we found that NYC came out on top in relation to several other major U.S. metro areas, some of them home to well-established tech hubs, such as San Francisco, Boston and Silicon Valley.
For instance, San Francisco lost more residents to NYC than it attracted from it: Nearly 3,000 new NYC residents came from here, while only about 1,600 moved the other way around during that same time. This added up to a positive net migration of nearly 1,400 residents for NYC, which was also the highest such county-to-county gain recorded.
Furthermore, NYC also attracted more taxpayers than it yielded when compared to the Bay Area’s Alameda and Santa Clara counties, which are home to California’s Silicon Valley tech hubs Fremont and San Jose, respectively. Nearly 900 New Yorkers changed their address to Alameda County, whereas only about 1,340 adjusted the other way around — a gain of roughly 440 taxpayers for NYC.
At the same time, about 1,160 NYC residents moved to the San Jose, Calif., area, while a little more than 1,420 chose the five boroughs over San Jose (260 net migration gain for NYC).
The next-highest NYC migration gains after San Francisco were from Boston. In this case, migration from NYC to Suffolk County, Mass., saw roughly 1,550 moves made, while nearly 2,400 made the move in reverse for a net gain of nearly 800 taxpayers for NYC.
Similarly, data showed slightly larger numbers moving between NYC and Middlesex County, Mass. — 1,860 from NYC to the greater Boston metro area and a little more than 2,400 the other way around, which added up to nearly 560 more residents in favor of NYC. In total, NYC gained roughly 1,350 taxpayers from these two Boston metropolitan area counties.
Then, the third- and fourth-highest NYC migration gains came from the District of Columbia and Cook County, Ill. (Chicago). While a little more than 1,600 New Yorkers moved to Washington, D.C., nearly 2,190 changed it the other way around, translating to a little more than 560 taxpayers in favor of NYC.
At the same time, Chicago became home to nearly 2,670 incoming New Yorkers, whereas 3,160 taxpayers changed their address from the city by Lake Michigan to the city on the East River — a little more than 500 residents gained by NYC.
Spiral Out: Nearly 64,000 New Yorkers Exit to New Jersey
Neighboring New Jersey was the top out-of-state destination for New Yorkers moving away from the city: About 63,800 New Yorkers moved here in 2022 — a net migration loss of about 40,000 New Yorkers between the two states straddling the Hudson River.
Unsurprisingly, the counties closest to NYC were the top destinations in the state for exiting New Yorkers — 13,219 former residents of the five boroughs moved to Hudson County, N.J.; nearly 10,500 went to Bergen County; and almost 8,500 switched to Essex County.
Then, Middlesex, Union, and Monmouth counties were the next top destinations, each becoming home to more than 5,000 NYC residents who moved across the river.
Miami State of Mind: Florida Was New Yorkers’ Second-Favorite Relocation Destination
Nearly 38,400 NYC residents changed their address to Florida. In particular, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties accounted for roughly 41% of the total transplants (a little more than 15,800).
Here, Miami-Dade saw the second-highest influx of New Yorkers (6,285) among counties outside of the tri-state area after Los Angeles, where 7,600 NYC taxpayers moved. Not far behind, Broward County became the new home to a little more than 5,000 exiting New Yorkers, while roughly 4,520 moved to Palm Beach County.
Miami was also the county to which NYC recorded the highest negative net migration outside of the tri-state area. With only 2,239 Miami-Dade residents making the move to the five boroughs, NYC saw a net loss of about 4,050 taxpayers to the Sunshine State’s most populous county.
NYC’s Largest Domestic Net Migration Losses
It’s worth noting here that a significant portion of New Yorkers relocating from the five boroughs didn’t stray outside of the tri-state area. This is a strong indication that they were most likely driven out by either the housing shortage or the increasing cost of living at the heart of the NY metro area, but also that they weren’t willing to leave it altogether.
To that end, when looking at the largest domestic net migration losses recorded by NYC in relation to outside counties, we see that nine of the top 10 went to other New York counties and to New Jersey. Specifically, NYC lost nearly 20,600 taxpayers to Nassau County; about 11,200 to Westchester County; and roughly 8,550 to Suffolk County, N.Y.
Similarly, Hudson County, N.J., had a net gain of a little more than 8,000 New Yorkers, while neighboring Bergen County, N.J., wrapped up the top five with a net migration gain of nearly 6,500 New Yorkers.
Predominant Income Brackets in the Comings & Goings of New Yorkers
Looking at IRS adjusted gross income data for domestic migration, we found both small and large differences in terms of income brackets.
As both the cost and the scarcity of housing in NYC continue to rise, it wasn’t surprising to see that there were a lot more people earning $50,000 per year or less who left NYC (99,200) than there were coming in (13,100).
Likewise, those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 per year were also more likely to leave NYC than they were to move here in 2022. Granted, the difference in this bracket was smaller than it was for the lower-wage earners — 293,300 migrated out of the five boroughs, whereas 201,300 moved in.
Finally, the earners more likely to move into NYC than out of it were those making at least $100,000 per year: IRS data showed that, while 57,800 taxpayers making $100,000 or more moved out of the city, 65,500 earners in the same income bracket migrated in.
Methodology
We based our analysis on the most recent domestic migration data, published by the IRS in 2024, which tracks year-to-year changes of address reported on individual income tax returns filed.
We focused on New York inflow and outflow patterns showing the number of residents who moved in 2022 and where they moved to or from.
Additionally, we looked at migration patterns in terms of income, which refers to IRS data on the adjusted gross income of migrating residents.
