BELLINGHAM — The U.S. Census Bureau released has released its state-to-state migration estimates for 2023, and it shows that Washington is a popular choice among residents of other west coast states. The data, which is based on the results of the annual American Community Survey, breaks down the total number of people who moved to and from each state last year.
Here’s what it had to say about Washington.
CA and OR residents moved to Washington at highest rate
In total, about 212,616 people moved to Washington from a different state in 2023, with another 67,190 coming from a different country and just under 2,500 coming from a U.S. territory.
California led the way, with approximately 40,858 people from the Golden State moving two states north in 2023. More Californians moved to Washington than all but three states — Texas, Arizona and Nevada.
Staying on the west coast, the second highest total of new Washington residents from a given state came from Oregon. About 29,960 Oregonians crossed the state’s northern border into Washington in 2023. Around 22,000 former Washington residents made the trip the other way.
There was a big drop-off between the top two states and the rest of the top five. Texas saw the third most residents leave for Washington, at 13,788, followed by Arizona at 10,675. Idaho took fifth place with 7,513 people moving one state west, although Colorado, Florida and Nevada fell just behind and within the margin of error of the Census Bureau’s estimate for Idaho.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, fewer people moved to Washington from West Virginia, North Dakota and Delaware than any other state.
Which states are Washingtonians moving to?
215,277 Washingtonians moved to a different state last year, according to the Census Bureau’s estimates.
The same five states that saw the most people leave for Washington topped the list of states where Washingtonians are moving, in almost the same order as well. California led the way, with 32,218 former Washington residents heading to the Golden State in 2023, followed by Oregon at 22,169 and Texas at 20,423.
Idaho and Arizona rounded out the top five with 14,655 and 12,844 new residents coming from Washington, respectively.
The states with the fewest residents who moved from Washington in 2023 were Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the estimates.
