California vs Massachusetts: which way are people moving?

Toward California. In 2022–23, 1,178 more people moved from Massachusetts to California than the other way.

Massachusetts → California10,215 people

Arrivals' income: $116.3k avg income reported on the second-year tax return

California → Massachusetts9,037 people

Leavers' income: $125.7k avg income reported on the second-year tax return

19,252 people moved between the two, one way or the other.

Has it always been this way?

Yes. More households have moved to California than to Massachusetts every year since 2013–14.

Net between the two · households (tax returns)
13–1414–1515–1616–1717–1818–1919–2020–2121–22+1,20222–23†††
Net moves between California and Massachusetts (Net between the two · households (tax returns))
YearValue
2013–14+2,424
2014–15 †+2,197
2015–16+2,995
2016–17 †+3,270
2017–18+2,331
2018–19+2,439
2019–20+1,642
2020–21+849
2021–22+2,023
2022–23 †+1,202

IRS processing changes in 2014–15, 2016–17 and 2022–23.

The two states overall

California

Net change, all states
−200,547
Moved in · moved out
389,700 · 590,247
Arrivals' income · leavers' income (reported on the second-year tax return)
$95.5k · $102.1k
California page →

Massachusetts

Net change, all states
−28,367
Moved in · moved out
116,816 · 145,183
Arrivals' income · leavers' income (reported on the second-year tax return)
$89.9k · $116.6k
Massachusetts page →

People, 2022–23, moves between states.

Every year, in full

Moves between Massachusetts and California, 2013–14 to 2022–23. Tap a column to sort.

Swipe for households and income →

PeopleHouseholdsAvg income per household (income reported on the second-year tax return)
2013–1410,6357,258+3,3777,0234,599$82.5k$89.9k
2014–15 †8,0045,187+2,8175,5923,395$90.2k$98.8k
2015–1611,8808,057+3,8238,0655,070$98.6k$107.0k
2016–17 †15,48211,448+4,03410,4877,217$99.0k$99.2k
2017–1811,3768,727+2,6497,9895,658$94.4k$107.4k
2018–1911,1938,423+2,7708,0595,620$104.6k$116.3k
2019–2011,1169,465+1,6517,9176,275$105.1k$133.0k
2020–2110,1059,568+5377,2676,418$132.7k$148.5k
2021–2211,2339,344+1,8898,3346,311$128.9k$182.6k
2022–23 †10,2159,037+1,1787,7676,565$116.3k$125.7k

† Processing-break years. Read changes across a † row with care.

Cite this comparison

Moved Where. “California vs Massachusetts: which way are people moving?” movedwhere.com/compare/california-vs-massachusetts. Data: IRS Statistics of Income migration data, 2022–23.