One red county is emerging as America’s biggest winner in the race for people and prosperity, attracting more wealth from migrating taxpayers than any other county in the nation.
The latest IRS migration data show President Donald Trump’s hometown of Palm Beach County, Florida, attracted more than $3 billion in taxable income from households moving in from other states, the largest gain of any county in the nation.
Already one of the nation’s wealthiest areas, Palm Beach is also home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, which has been dubbed the Southern White House. The sunny Florida enclave has become an increasingly high-profile destination for political donors, business leaders and affluent residents, alongside Florida’s broader influx of high-income households.
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The latest IRS figures suggest that trend continues to favor lower-tax, fast-growing Sun Belt states over many of the nation’s largest coastal counties.
The findings offer one of the clearest snapshots yet of where Americans, and their money, are moving. That’s important because the migration of higher-income households can have an outsized economic impact. They contribute more than just new neighbors, bringing paychecks, investments, businesses and spending power that can strengthen local economies while leaving behind smaller tax bases in the places they leave.
The migration wasn’t limited to Palm Beach.
Neighboring Collier County recorded the nation’s second-largest net gain in adjusted gross income at roughly $2.25 billion, with nearly all of that growth also driven by newcomers from outside Florida. Adjusted gross income (AGI) measures the taxable income reported on federal tax returns, making it one of the clearest indicators of how much earning power is moving from one place to another.
Because higher-income households pay a disproportionate share of federal income taxes, changes in adjusted gross income can have an outsized effect on local tax bases, consumer spending and economic growth.
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Meanwhile, some of the nation’s largest metropolitan counties continued to lose both taxpayers and wealth through interstate migration.
Los Angeles County, home to Hollywood and one of the nation’s largest economic engines, recorded the nation’s largest net loss of tax filers, shedding 17,496 returns. Those departing taxpayers took nearly $1.9 billion in adjusted gross income with them as they relocated to other states.
Other major counties in California and New York also recorded significant taxpayer losses. Queens County, New York, lost 17,109 tax filers, followed by the Bronx (-16,319), Orange County, California (-11,618) and Suffolk County, New York (-10,434), highlighting the continued outflow from some of the nation’s largest coastal population centers.
One county, however, stood out for a different reason.
Manhattan recorded the nation’s largest net gain in interstate tax filers while simultaneously losing about $922 million in adjusted gross income, suggesting many of the households arriving earned less than the higher-income taxpayers who departed.
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The contrast underscores that population growth and wealth growth are not always the same thing.
While Manhattan added more new tax filers than any other county, Palm Beach and Collier captured billions more in taxable income, illustrating how the migration of affluent households can reshape local economies even when fewer people move.
Trump officially moved his main residence from his longtime home of Manhattan to his estate in Palm Beach in 2019, while he was serving his first term in office. At the time of the move, he slammed New York City’s liberal policies and claimed he was “treated very badly” by political leaders in the state despite paying millions in taxes.
In the years after his move, many of Trump’s wealthy inner circle also relocated to Palm Beach and some surrounding Florida counties. The Sunshine State has no state income tax and levies neither estate nor inheritance taxes, while New York’s top state income tax rate exceeds 10%.
Taken together, the IRS figures suggest America’s economic center of gravity continues to shift south.
As billions of dollars in taxable income flow toward Florida, Texas and other Sun Belt states, many of the nation’s traditional coastal economic powerhouses are losing not just residents — but some of their highest-earning taxpayers.
