Tennessee becomes latest to entice citizens to flee blue states

The state of Tennessee is increasingly becoming the new home of former blue-state residents seeking to keep more of their own income. 

"Tennessee is proof that freedom works, and what we've got going on here is doing us quite well. It's bringing people from all over the country, especially when they're fleeing socialist areas of the country," says Tori Venable, state director at Americans for Prosperity. 

Tennessee joins Florida and Texas as havens for blue state refugees, and the exodus has even caused states like California to lose congressional seats. 

California's shrinking population and tax base

In recent years, California has experienced a significant population exodus driven by high housing costs, taxes, living expenses, and a generally low quality of life. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, net domestic migration out of the state was 355,643 people, which means that 355,643 more people left the state than welcomed in as new residents. In one year, between 2023 and 2024, California lost 239,575 residents. Between 2022 and 2023, New York suffered a net migration loss of 180,700 residents. 

In a five-year span from 2019 to 2024, Tennessee experienced a net increase in its population of 397,425. 

Compares Tennessee with Texas and Florida

Venable, who is a native Nashvillian, touted the favorable tax climate of Tennessee over even the two most popular move-to states of Texas and Florida. She boasted, "Tennessee is one of the income tax-free states. There's a handful of us, but we also have our property taxes kept pretty well in check." 

Tennessee takes the number five spot in growth on the U-Haul Growth Index. U-Haul maintains a national database of where people are moving from and to.

Calling out florida and Texas directly, she said, "Our property taxes are actually better in Tennessee. We have mountains and country music, but because we're a sales tax-based economy, whenever something goes wrong nationally, our state does better financially than everybody else does, because no one else is cheating their taxes. If you spend it, you're paying a sales tax, and there is no income tax. In fact, it's constitutionally banned in our state."

Tennessee has one of the most taxpayer-friendly climates in the U.S. because it levies no state income tax on wages (unlike New York’s top rate of 10.9% and California’s 13.3%), imposes a relatively low combined state-and-local sales tax burden, and fully exempts Social Security, pensions, and most retirement income from any state-level taxation.

The inevitable concern for red states is that those fleeing blue states, presumably because of blue-state policies of high taxation and issues like high crime, will bring their voting records with them. Venable recognized that issue, but seems confident in long-established conservative values in the state and said, "We do have blue holes in our red state, but we have a Republican super majority trifecta, which pretty much protects us from many of the bad ideas when we get the very liberal mayor of Nashville."

"So we encourage them to come, bring their families, enjoy what makes Tennessee great, but also leave the bad policies and bad ideas behind them and fully embrace what it is to be a Tennessean."