How America Moves

Virginia

State-to-state migration of people and income, 20222023 filing years

At a glance (2023)

Cost of living
101
1% above the U.S. average
Median home value
$360,700
national $303,400
Home prices, 5 years
+44.6%
over the 5 years to 2023
Monthly rent
$1,514
national $1,348
Homeownership
67%
national 65%
Unemployment
2.7%
national 3.6%
Household income
$90,974
national $78,538
Median age
38.8 yrs
national 38.7

The cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. The median home is valued at $360,700 (nominal). Home prices have risen about 45% over the five years to 2023. Median rent is about $1,514 a month. Unemployment averaged 2.7% in 2023 (national 3.6%). Median household income is $90,974. These figures describe all residents, not just tax filers, come from separate sources than the migration data on this page, and do not indicate why anyone moved.

Between the 2022 and 2023 filing years, Virginia saw a net gain of 458 tax-filing households and a net gain of 1,290 individuals. Against a population of about 8,715,698, that is a net inflow of about 0.1 per 1,000 residents. On net, the area lost $934.9M in associated adjusted gross income (AGI, nominal dollars). The largest inflow, about 15,079 households, came from Maryland; the largest outflow, about 15,148 households, went to North Carolina. In the prior (2022) filing year, the area saw a net loss of 4,493 individuals. These figures cover federal income tax filers only and do not indicate why people moved.

Net income (AGI)
-$934.9M
nominal dollars
Net households
+458
tax returns
Net people
+1,290
exemptions

+0.1 net people per 1,000 residents (population 8,715,698)

Income (AGI) in and out

Moved in$11.7B
Moved out$12.6B
Net -$934.9M (nominal)
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Virginia counties

Net migration by county. Hover for figures; click a county to open it.

Net outNet in(AGI $)
Hover an area to trace its top 5 inbound (in) and outbound (out) moves.
Net income (AGI) that moved in minus out, in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation).Net tax returns (filing households) that moved in minus out.Net people per 1,000 residents, so larger and smaller areas compare fairly.
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Top origin states

  1. 1Maryland15,079$1.3B
  2. 2North Carolina12,599$866.9M
  3. 3Florida12,414$1B
  4. 4California9,309$879.2M
  5. 5New York8,124$647.3M
  6. 6Texas7,641$652.4M
  7. 7District of Columbia6,502$872.8M
  8. 8Pennsylvania6,486$493.8M
  9. 9Georgia4,876$340.3M
  10. 10New Jersey4,296$368.6M
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Top destination states

  1. 1North Carolina15,148$1.2B
  2. 2Florida14,194$1.7B
  3. 3Maryland13,353$1.2B
  4. 4Texas9,124$829.3M
  5. 5California8,264$763.3M
  6. 6New York6,504$520.8M
  7. 7Pennsylvania5,558$458M
  8. 8District of Columbia5,130$529.6M
  9. 9Georgia5,099$400.8M
  10. 10South Carolina4,896$506.3M
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Churn by state · both directions at once

The biggest two-way exchanges of filing households, 20222023. Moved in and moved out are gross one-way counts; net is the difference. Click a column to sort.

Maryland15,07913,353+1,726+$78.5M
North Carolina12,59915,148-2,549-$336.6M
Florida12,41414,194-1,780-$669.4M
California9,3098,264+1,045+$115.9M
Texas7,6419,124-1,483-$176.9M
New York8,1246,504+1,620+$126.5M
Pennsylvania6,4865,558+928+$35.8M
District of Columbia6,5025,130+1,372+$343.2M
Georgia4,8765,099-223-$60.5M
South Carolina3,7174,896-1,179-$251.9M
Tennessee3,6374,371-734-$102.9M
New Jersey4,2962,636+1,660+$129M

Counts are filing households (IRS returns), matching the lists above; income is nominal AGI. A dash means the IRS published only one direction of that exchange (small flows are suppressed), so no net is computed.

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Net migration by year

Net 2012–2023: -$15.2B (-95,349 people)
20122023
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Net AGI and net people by year (nominal dollars)
YearNet AGINet people
2012-$647.3M+3,176
2013-$962.6M-5,390
2014-$1.3B-25,561
2015-$509.5M+427
2016-$1.6B-17,474
2017-$1.9B-22,596
2018-$1.3B-6,466
2019-$1.2B-3,686
2020-$1.1B-7,352
2021-$1.8B-7,224
2022-$2.1B-4,493
2023-$934.9M+1,290
Migration in context

How big is this move, relative to the state?

In the 20222023 filing year, about 1,290 more people moved into Virginia than left (counting tax filers and their dependents) — a net loss of about $934.9M in income (nominal) — in a state of 8,732,034 people.

Population
8,732,034
Census 2023 estimate
Net migration rate
+0.1
net people per 1,000 residents
A town of 10,000 would net about +1 people.
Net income per resident
−$107
nominal dollars
-$934.9M total across 8,732,034 residents.

The rate lets you compare Virginia with a stateof any size: it’s the net flow divided by population. The IRS counts tax filers; population counts all residents, so read the rate as a scale indicator, not a literal share of people.

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Components of population change · 2023 (Census)

Where the state’s overall change came from. Census counts all residents; the IRS migration above is one slice of the domestic-migration component.

Births
+94,600
Deaths
-79,649
Net domestic migration
-8,117
Net international migration
+44,282
Total change
+50,996

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program. Figures are people, not tax filers.

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Income & cost of living

What a dollar is worth here

Prices around Virginia run about 1% above the national average. In plain terms: $100 spent here buys about what $99 buys in the average American community. The figures below apply that to income, each compared to the U.S. average of $70,002 per person.

Income per person
$73,890
what people here earn (BEA 2023, nominal)
6% above the U.S. average
Price level
101.3
100 = U.S. average prices (BEA price parity)
everyday costs about 1.3% higher than average
What that income buys
$72,919
local income restated at U.S.-average prices
4% above the U.S. average
Cheaper than U.S. avgU.S. average (100)Pricier

Price parity shown at the state level (BEA does not publish a single figure below the metro level).

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Where the cost comes from · price parity by category

Index where 100 = U.S. average for that category. Housing is usually what separates one place from another.

Housing & rents105.6
Goods101.1
Utilities92.4
Other services100.6

Housing is measured from rents (including an estimated rental value for owner-occupied homes), so a run-up in purchase prices shows here only as it reaches rents. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Covers all residents, a separate universe from the IRS filer income above. How the data works.

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Who lives here

The people of Virginia

American Community Survey, 2019–2023 (a 5-year average of all residents, not just tax filers).

Median age
38.8
years
Median household income
$90,974
per household (ACS 2019–2023, nominal)
16% above the U.S. median
College degree
41%
adults 25+ with a bachelor's or higher
Poverty rate
9.9%
residents below the poverty line
Average commute
28 min
mean travel time to work
Broadband at home
90%
households with any broadband
Race and ethnicity (share of residents)
White 59%Hispanic 11%Black 18%Asian 7%Other 5%

White, Black, and Asian counts are people who are not Hispanic or Latino; Hispanic or Latino can be of any race. Shares are rounded and may not total 100.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Covers all residents, a separate universe from the IRS filer data. A 5-year estimate is an average over 2019–2023; compare years at least five apart, since consecutive windows overlap. How the data works.

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Housing · what it costs to live here (ACS 2019–2023)

Median home value
$360,700
owner-occupied homes
19% above the U.S. median
Median rent
$1,514
gross rent per month
12% above the U.S. median
Homeownership
67%
of occupied homes are owner-occupied
Home-price appreciation · FHFA index, 2023
Past year
+7.8%
price change, 2022 to 2023
Past 5 years
+45%
price change, 2018 to 2023

A repeat-sales index (how much the same homes changed in price), so it tracks the market over time rather than the current level. Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, annual all-transactions HPI; the county series is FHFA’s developmental index.

New home construction · building permits, 2023
36,096new housing units authorized in 2023
Single-family 59%Multifamily 41%

Units authorized by residential building permits (new supply), summed from counties for the state and U.S. Permits are authorizations, not completions. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.

Home value is what owners estimate their homes are worth, not recent sale prices. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2019–2023), nominal dollars. How the data works.

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Local economy & risk

Jobs and natural hazards

Unemployment rate
2.7%
BLS 2023 annual average
Labor force
4,544,986
4,422,328 employed
Disaster declarations
major federal, 2023

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS) and FEMA. A disaster declaration marks federal assistance eligibility, not damage severity, and says nothing about why anyone moved. How the data works.

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Unemployment now
3.6%
May 2026 · ▲ 0.3 points vs May 2025
January 2024May 2026

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS). Monthly unemployment for this state, not seasonally adjusted. Updated every month, so it moves faster than the annual average above. How the data works.

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Who’s moving by income

Net migration by income bracket

Tax-filing households that moved into Virginia minus those that left, by the adjusted gross income they reported, 20222023. Positive means more arrived than left at that income level.

$1–$10k
+603
In 10,282Out 9,679+$3.1M AGI
$10k–$25k
+1,411
In 22,276Out 20,865+$23.9M AGI
$25k–$50k
+2,263
In 34,966Out 32,703+$83.3M AGI
$50k–$75k
+622
In 22,582Out 21,960+$36.6M AGI
$75k–$100k
-261
In 14,936Out 15,197-$24.6M AGI
$100k–$200k
-2,416
In 23,851Out 26,267-$355.9M AGI
$200k+
-1,676
In 10,491Out 12,167-$706.3M AGI

Among the highest earners ($200k+), Virginia ranks #41 of 51 states for net household migration (-1,676).

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, state-level gross migration file (returns with negative AGI are excluded, so this won’t exactly match the totals above). Income is what filers reported, not a reason anyone moved. Compare all states by income bracket. How the data works.

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Goods trade

What Virginia ships and receives

Physical goods shipped between Virginia and other states, 2022. This is freight, not the migration of people or income shown above.

$180.2B
Ships to other states
+30% since 2017
$228.6B
Receives from states
+27% since 2017
-$48.5B
Net balance

Top goods shipped out

Mixed freight
$29.8B
Electronic and other electrical equipment and components, and office equipment
$25.5B
Pharmaceutical products
$22.4B
Other prepared foodstuffs and fats and oils
$19.0B
Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather
$16.7B
Motorized and other vehicles (includes parts)
$16.0B

Top goods received

Mixed freight
$33.5B
Electronic and other electrical equipment and components, and office equipment
$31.7B
Machinery
$15.9B
Motorized and other vehicles (includes parts)
$14.6B
Plastics and rubber
$13.4B
Textiles, leather, and articles of textiles or leather
$12.8B

Biggest trading partners (both ways)

Goods trade runs in both directions: states swap different goods, so a partner is often near the top of both columns. Net is ships minus receives (positive means Virginia ships more to that partner than it gets back).

PartnerShips toReceivesNetTotal
North Carolina$22.3B$27.3B-$4.9B$49.6B
Maryland$22.5B$25.5B-$3.0B$47.9B
Pennsylvania$13.0B$18.8B-$5.8B$31.8B
California$8.8B$13.1B-$4.4B$21.9B
Ohio$8.5B$11.0B-$2.5B$19.5B
New Jersey$7.1B$10.8B-$3.7B$18.0B
Georgia$9.8B$7.3B+$2.6B$17.1B
Illinois$7.0B$10.0B-$3.0B$17.0B

Goods shipped every five years by the Census Commodity Flow Survey (a sample, so figures are estimates and the smallest flows are withheld). Value is nominal. The totals and partner table above count trade between Virginia and other states; the goods lists count everything the state ships or receives, including within-state shipments. Compare all states. How the data works.

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Taxes the state collects

What Virginia collects in taxes

Total state taxes
$37B
FY 2023, nominal
Per resident
$4,239
total state taxes ÷ population
Largest categories (share of total)
Individual income tax$16.6B · 45%
General sales & gross receipts$7.4B · 20%
Corporation net income tax$4.4B · 12%
Other selective sales tax$2.9B · 8%
Motor fuels sales tax$1.8B · 5%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections. This is what the state government collected (not local taxes), not a measure of any individual’s tax burden. How the data works.

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How Virginia has voted. Certified returns, popular vote only. This is a separate dataset from the migration figures on this page.

President, 19762024

YearDemocraticRepublicanOtherMarginTotal
20242,335,3952,075,08572,096D +5.84,482,576
20202,413,5681,962,43086,602D +10.14,462,600
20161,981,4731,769,443233,715D +5.33,984,631
20121,971,8201,822,52260,147D +3.93,854,489
20081,959,5321,725,00538,723D +6.33,723,260
20041,454,7421,716,95926,666R +8.23,198,367
20001,216,4221,436,87784,616R +8.12,737,915
19961,091,0601,138,350187,232R +2.02,416,642
19921,038,6501,150,517369,962R +4.42,559,129
1988859,7991,309,16222,648R +20.52,191,609
1984796,2501,337,07813,307R +25.22,146,635
1980752,174989,609124,249R +12.71,866,032
1976813,896836,55446,644R +1.31,697,094

U.S. Senate races · all states →

YearWinnerDemocraticRepublicanOtherMargin
2024Timothy M. Kaine2,417,1152,019,9118,509D +8.9
2020Mark R. Warner2,466,5001,934,199D +12.1
2018Timothy M. Kaine1,910,3701,374,31361,565D +16.0
2014Mark R. Warner1,073,6671,055,94053,102D +0.8
2012Timothy M. Kaine2,010,0671,785,542D +5.9
2008Mark R. Warner2,369,3271,228,83041,959D +31.3
2006James H. "jim" Webb, Jr.1,175,6061,166,27726,102D +0.4
2002John W. Warner1,229,894251,157
2000George F. Allen1,296,0931,420,460R +4.6

U.S. House seats won · district maps →

2024
D 6 · R 5
2022
D 6 · R 5
2020
D 7 · R 4
2018
D 7 · R 4
2016
D 4 · R 7
2014
D 3 · R 8
2012
D 3 · R 8
2010
D 3 · R 8
2008
D 6 · R 5
2006
D 3 · R 8
2004
D 3 · R 8
2002
D 3 · R 8
2000
D 4 · R 6 · O 1

2024 results by county

Republican wonDemocratic wonIndependent / other
Which party received the most votes, as a solid color.Winning margin as a share of all votes cast.Change in margin since 2020, in percentage points.Total votes cast, all candidates.
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Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab county returns (CC0). Margins are the popular-vote gap as a share of all votes cast.

Counties in Virginia (133)

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