Feb 03, 2026

Maryland is experiencing a significant, long-term loss of residents to other states, 120,435 between 2020 and 2024. Residents are packing up and heading for the exits. They are choosing Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and other states where housing is affordable, taxes are predictable, and everyday life does not feel like a financial wrestling match. From 1790 through the 2020 census, the state had enjoyed continuous population growth. No more.

According to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s Competiveness Redbook: “High taxes, rising living costs, housing affordability challenges and regulatory complexity are pushing residents to states with lower costs, better growth prospects, and more business-friendly climates.”

Hard data from the state’s own Comptroller confirms this. Maryland has endured one of the worst domestic outmigration trends in the country for several consecutive years. In 2022, the state lost about 46,000 residents. In 2023, the loss was about 33,000. In 2024, it was another 18,500. These are not ambiguous figures. They are the state’s official numbers provided through the Maryland Comptroller’s office. When you consistently lose the population equivalent of an entire mid-sized town every year, something is wrong.

Even more telling is where those Marylanders are going. Comptroller identifies the top destination states by net migration from 2010 to 2023. The list includes Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Delaware. These states have something in common. They all offer residents a chance at financial breathing room. Whether the motivation is a cheaper home, lower taxes, or simply a government that does not view every paycheck as a piggy bank, Marylanders are finding relief elsewhere.

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence comes from Montgomery County’s Office of Legislative Oversight, which examined IRS migration and income data. From 2020 to 2022, Montgomery County lost a net 930 million dollars in income to Florida. It lost 190 million to Delaware. Another 150 million to Texas. These are not retirees with small pensions. These are working families and high-earning professionals who are taking their tax dollars with them. When the most economically productive residents are leaving, it is not just a demographic shift. It is a fiscal alarm bell.

Why is this happening? Housing affordability is the biggest driver, and Maryland’s own reports openly admit this. The Comptroller explicitly links outmigration to high housing costs and emphasizes that Maryland is losing residents to states with lower housing costs. That should not shock anyone trying to buy a home in Maryland right now. Prices keep rising, inventory keeps shrinking, and first-time buyers feel locked out entirely. Renting is no better. Maryland’s median rent sits well above the national median. Meanwhile, states like Pennsylvania and West Virginia are below it. A young family comparing mortgage payments in Maryland with those in the Poconos or the panhandle does not have to spend long doing the math.

Taxes are the second major pressure point. The Tax Foundation ranks Maryland 46th in the entire country for overall tax competitiveness. A state with that ranking does not attract families or entrepreneurs. It pushes them away. Recent tax changes have made the picture even worse. Maryland added new top income brackets of 6.25 percent and 6.5 percent, which take effect in tax year 2025. At the same time, local jurisdictions can raise their piggyback income tax rate to as high as 3.30 percent. When you stack state and local taxes together, Maryland’s top earners move into one of the most expensive brackets in America.

For a family deciding whether to stay, this matters. If your house is too expensive, your taxes go up, and you cannot make long-term financial plans, you look to the states where your neighbors have already moved. In this case, those states are very clear: Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. In many of those places, your home costs half as much, your tax burden is dramatically lighter, and your paycheck goes much further.

The Moore administration has not caused every one of these problems but it has not eased them either. Maryland’s affordability crisis worsened during his tenure, and instead of making it cheaper to live here, lawmakers added new taxes and leaned even harder on climate mandates that raise energy prices. When government leaders repeatedly choose policies that raise the cost of living, residents eventually turn to the one option left to them. They move.

Maryland leadership can deny this trend, but they cannot deny math. People vote with their feet. And Maryland is losing tens of thousands of votes every year.

If state leaders truly want to reverse the trend, they will have to do more than create task forces and working groups. They will have to confront the reality that affordability is the new battleground. Families without financial room to breathe will go somewhere they can. The proof is already in the moving vans heading up I-83 toward Pennsylvania, across I-95 into Delaware, out I-70 toward West Virginia, and down I-95 toward Florida and beyond.

Maryland is at a crossroads. Either leaders fix the affordability crisis or the exodus continues. The numbers are clear. The question is whether Annapolis is willing to listen.

Endnotes

Maryland Chamber of Commerce, “Maryland’s Population Challenge: Maryland Is Losing People to Other States and Why It Matters” https://www.mdchamber.org/2025/12/18/maryland-is-losing-people-to-other-states
Maryland Comptroller Domestic Migration and Housing Report
https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/md/reports/research/housing-economy-print.pdf
Maryland Population Trends Report (MSDC)
https://planning.maryland.gov/MSDC/Documents/Trends_Report/Demographic_Trends_Report.pdf
Montgomery County OLO Migration and Income Report
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2024_reports/OLOReport2024-15.pdf
Tax Foundation 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index
https://taxfoundation.org/statetaxindex/states/maryland
Grant Thornton Summary of Maryland Tax Changes
https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/alerts/tax/2025/salt/k-o/md-enacts-major-tax-hikes-06-12
NFIB Summary of Maryland Local Tax Rate Changes
https://www.nfib.com/news/news/maryland-tax-changes-to-the-state-and-local-income-tax-rates
AP News Coverage of Maryland Budget and Tax Package
https://apnews.com/article/b2f54455b9628b12f910843cd8ccf422

Scott McCann is a Contributor for Direct Line News and can be reached at Scott.McCann@mcgopclub.com