The Implications of Millionaire Migration for Progressive Taxation

Do millionaires migrate to avoid high state income taxes? Many states have passed millionaire taxes in recent years, sparking concerns about tax flight among the wealthy. Millionaire migration can drain state revenues and undermine state-level redistributive social policies. However, the existing evidence on elite mobility and the likelihood of tax flight among millionaires remains limited.

Sociologist Cristobal Young will examine millionaire migration in response to progressive state income taxes. Young will also consider broader elite demographic events captured by the millionaire "birth rate" (the domestic production of millionaires), and the millionaire "life expectancy" (the duration of million-dollar earnings over time). Because demographic events are often correlated (for example, births create the potential for migrations), he will analyze the interconnection of millionaire population dynamics. Finally, Young will focus on state border-county regions—small geographies where there are the largest tax rate discontinuities. Is there consistently higher millionaire population on the lower-tax side of the state border?