States with the Most Residents Born Out-of-State

Data

Note: US States Where Most Residents Were Born Elsewhere

What the data shows

This ranking measures the share of each state's residents who were born in a different state, a snapshot of how much each state draws people from elsewhere in the country. States at the top are magnets for domestic migration, while states at the bottom have populations rooted close to home.

• Nevada tops the list: 73.5% of its residents were born in another state, the highest share in the nation.
• Florida follows at 66.4%, boosted by decades of retirees and workers moving south.
• The District of Columbia ranks third at 65.9%, with a workforce constantly renewed by transplants.
• Arizona (62.2%), New Hampshire (60.0%), and Colorado (60.0%) complete the group above 60%.
• Delaware (59.1%), Wyoming (59.0%), Idaho (58.7%), and Alaska (57.3%) fill out the top ten.

Why these states attract transplants

States with the most out-of-state-born residents share common pull factors: fast-growing economies, warm climates, or the simple fact of being small enough that native-born residents are a minority.

• Nevada grew explosively around Las Vegas and Reno, with jobs in tourism, gaming, and logistics pulling workers from everywhere.
• Florida's warm winters, no state income tax, and large retiree and immigrant inflows keep its transplant share high.
• Colorado attracts transplants for outdoor lifestyles and a tech-heavy economy centered on Denver and Boulder.
• The District of Columbia is a federal employment hub, so most of its population arrives for government, lobbying, and nonprofit careers.
• Alaska's small native base means nearly every new resident shifts the out-of-state-born share upward.

The other side of the map

At the opposite end of the spectrum, states like Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have large shares of residents born in the same state, often because of strong local identity, older populations, or slower economic growth.

• Southeastern states such as Louisiana and Mississippi have some of the highest shares of native-born residents.
• Regional migration patterns also matter: neighbors like Georgia and Alabama exchange many movers within the South.
• Fast-growing states typically gain transplants, while slow-growing or declining states keep more of their native populations.

Fun Facts

• Nevada's 73.5% out-of-state-born share has been number one for decades, a legacy of its 20th century boomtown history.
• Florida adds roughly a thousand new residents per day on net, one of the fastest population growth rates in the US.
• The US population has always been mobile; the frontier era saw entire states filled by settlers born elsewhere.
• Washington, D.C. is not a state, but its 65.9% share would rank it third among all US jurisdictions.
• New Hampshire is the only New England state in the top ten, pulling transplants from Boston's metro sprawl.
• States with no state income tax, like Nevada and Florida, tend to draw both workers and retirees.
• Internal migration now moves roughly 8 million Americans between states each year, keeping these shares in constant flux.