Recently released IRS data show that Oklahoma not only ranked among the top 10 states attracting the largest net population increase from people moving here from other states, but Oklahoma was also among the states attracting the most movers younger than 35, according to a new report from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF).

The foundation’s “Migration in Minutes” report found Oklahoma outshone most states when it came to attracting young workers, ranking 12th best nationally.

In the immediate region, only two border states ranked higher. Texas ranked first nationally, while Colorado ranked third. But neighboring Arkansas and Missouri were hot on Oklahoma’s heels, ranking 13th and 14th, respectively, in the number of individuals younger than 35 who moved to the state.

The NTUF report noted that “despite popular perception that big cities in high-tax states (such as New York City, L.A., or San Francisco) are youth magnets insulated against tax debates, California and New York remain the biggest interstate migration losers even among the youngest working generations.”

The five states experiencing the greatest net loss of residents age 35 and younger were Louisiana, Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, and California.

The report ranked Oklahoma among the top 10 states for domestic migration from all age groups, based on IRS data on interstate moves by taxpayers in 2022.

“Recently, the IRS released its 2022 update to its data series on interstate migration by taxpayers. In it, we see a continuation of the trends that we have seen for years: taxpayers are fleeing high-tax states and heading to low-tax ones,” the report stated.

The five states losing a resident most frequently were California (every 2 minutes, 37 seconds), New York (3 minutes, 20 seconds), Illinois (9 minutes, 42 seconds), New Jersey (17 minutes, 36 seconds), and Massachusetts (18 minutes, 32 seconds).

The five states gaining domestic migrants the fastest were Texas (gaining a new resident every 4 minutes and 40 seconds), Florida (4 minutes, 42 seconds), North Carolina (7 minutes, 36 seconds), South Carolina (8 minutes, 54 seconds), and Tennessee (12 minutes, 15 seconds).

Oklahoma ranked 10th best with someone moving here every 41 minutes and 45 seconds in 2022.

Among states that border Oklahoma, only Texas fared better.

The NTUF estimates that Oklahoma’s state-and-local tax revenue will increase by nearly $47.6 million as a result of the domestic migration that occurred in 2022.

However, Oklahoma did not fare as well when it came to attracting higher-income individuals.

Oklahoma ranked 20th best based on the number of individuals moving to the state who had incomes of $200,000 or more. The report showed that Oklahoma gained a net 527 residents who had incomes above that level.

“While Texas gained more net residents from migration than Florida in 2022, Florida remained the top destination for higher-income individuals,” the report stated. “Florida gained a net of 50,485 new residents with incomes above $200,000 (the highest-income group reported by the IRS). All told, more than 45% of Florida’s net gain in residents in 2022 was composed of individuals earning $200,000 or more. The next closest was Texas, gaining a net of 15,470 individuals making $200,000 (but just 13.7% of the state’s total net gain).”

Oklahoma ranked third best in the region with only Texas and Arkansas (ranked 17th with 1,167 net new residents with higher incomes) outperforming Oklahoma among bordering states.

“There’s little mystery behind these trends,” the report stated. “California and New York, the two states at the bottom, have two of the three highest income tax rates in the country, while Massachusetts and New Jersey each have a top rate of 9.75% or higher. On the other hand, three of the five top states have no income tax at all.”

While Oklahoma attracted fewer high-income movers in 2022 than many states with no income tax, policymakers have taken steps to make the state more attractive. Oklahoma’s top personal income tax rate has been reduced to 4.5 percent and officials have put the income tax on a gradual path to full repeal by dedicating future growth revenue to pay for continued reductions in the tax rate.

The NTUF report also examined state performance over a decade.

From 2013 to 2022, Oklahoma experienced greater net domestic migration than all but 14 states. During that decade, Oklahoma gained a net 66,534 residents from domestic migration, the report found, despite experiencing a significant oil bust that especially hammered the state economy from 2015 to 2018. Among bordering states, only Texas and Colorado saw greater growth during the decade.

However, states with no income tax have experienced a significant increase in revenue related to domestic migration from 2013 to 2022, generally outpacing Oklahoma.

Over that decade, Florida gained $18.8 billion in revenue from net increases in population created by domestic migration from other states, while Texas gained $4.5 billion. Tennessee gained more than $1.6 billion and Nevada gained $2.1 billion. New Hampshire gained more than $511 million and Wyoming gained $258 million. South Dakota gained more than $177 million.

In contrast, Oklahoma gained just $34.5 million in revenue thanks to a net increase in domestic migration over that decade, in part because the state lost population and associated revenue from roughly 2016 to 2018 due to an oil bust. The state’s strong domestic migration since that time has offset those losses, but not enough to close the gap with most states that have no income tax.

The latest edition of the “Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index” report, released by the American Legislative Exchange Council Center for State Fiscal Reform, also shows that Oklahoma has experienced strong domestic migration since COVID.

The report shows that Oklahoma experienced net outmigration of 17,832 combined from 2016 to 2018 as the result of an oil bust that created economic upheaval. That was followed by a meager net increase of 4,926 in 2019.

But in the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, the report shows that Oklahoma experienced a collective net increase in population from domestic migration totaling 121,489.