Residents flee Washington state with a taxpayer leaving every 30 minutes: report

Washington is now among the states most consistently losing taxpayers to interstate migration, as Democratic lawmakers prepare yet another major tax hike aimed at high-paying employers.

According to a new ranking published Nov. 24 by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), Washington ranks No. 43 nationally, losing a net taxpayer to other states every 29 minutes and 55 seconds.

NTUF’s analysis draws on IRS migration data tracking taxpayers moving in and out each year and argues the trend reflects Americans’ preference for lower-tax, limited-government states.

The biggest “losers” were California (No. 51, losing a taxpayer every 1 minute 44 seconds), New York (every 2 minutes 23 seconds), and Illinois (every 6 minutes 4 seconds). The top “gainers” were Florida (gaining a taxpayer every 2 minutes 9 seconds), Texas (every 2 minutes 53 seconds), and North Carolina (every 6 minutes 21 seconds).

On Tuesday, self-described socialist state Rep. Shaun Scott (D-Seattle) announced a new payroll excise tax proposal at the Capitol, arguing “the ultra-wealthy, not working families, should pay their fair share.” Democrats have already enacted major new taxes in recent years, including Washington’s capital gains tax, one of the policy shifts NTUF points to when arguing wealthy taxpayers are increasingly relocating to friendlier tax climates.

Microsoft President Brad Smith has cautioned that if Washington’s tax burden becomes “prohibitive,” companies will reconsider where they place jobs, and he specifically pointed to nearby Vancouver, BC, as an alternative. More than 3,200 Microsoft workers have already been laid off in the Evergreen State this year. Amazon cut 2,300 jobs, while Meta, Oracle, and Salesforce eliminated hundreds more. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Vancouver, BC office has more than doubled since the pandemic. Smith added, “You don’t have to look far to find Vancouver.”

In April, dozens of major employers, including Alaska Airlines, Costco, T-Mobile, PSE, Microsoft, Amazon, Zillow, Nordstrom, and even the Seattle Mariners, warned Gov. Bob Ferguson that Democrats’ tax-and-spend agenda threatened Washington’s long-term stability. The next day, Ferguson vowed to veto any wealth tax, then turned around and signed the largest tax increase in state history, totaling $12.2 billion over four years.

Despite those increases, Washington’s latest revenue forecast shows the budget $1.2 billion in the red, with construction revenue collapsing after Ferguson signed statewide rent control earlier this year.

Washington Democrats are even blaming federal Republicans for threatening Medicaid, but Olympia slashed $782 million from Medicaid months before Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill.

According to the nonpartisan Office of Program Research, 95 percent of the cuts hit seniors, people with disabilities, long-term care, and hospitals already $4 billion in the hole. Republicans tried to boost Medicaid reimbursement rates, but Democrats blocked them.