As people are flowing into Missouri, money is flowing out.
A map of two decades’ worth of Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Census Bureau data, called “How Money Walks,” shows how money and people moved across state and county lines from 1992 to 2013. The Show Me State didn’t do so well: Despite a population increase of 50,282, it lost $2.36 billion in annual adjusted gross income (AGI), most of it to states with better tax climates.
Residents of Illinois and California, the top two losing states, brought a combined $1.31 billion in annual AGI when they moved to Missouri, according to the map. But even that wasn’t enough to offset the state’s $2.2 billion loss to Florida, its $867.11 million loss to Texas or its $374.65 million loss to Arizona.
“It’s the Rust Belt moving to the Sun Belt, and I don’t think we’re necessarily alone there,” says State Director Brad Jones. A quick look at the data proves him right: Like Missouri, many of the 23 states that lost wealth saw billions moving to sunny and tax-free Florida and Texas. Florida topped the 50 states with a $116.36 billion gain; Missouri was about average at No. 32 on the list.
The counties that lost the most wealth in Missouri were St. Louis County (-$5.76 billion), Jackson County (-$2.2 billion), and St. Louis City (-$2.17 billion). Attracting the most individual wealth were St. Charles, Christian, and Cass counties, with gains of $2.39 billion, $731.09 million, and $584.29 million, respectively.
Much of that wealth stayed close to home. Of the $5.76 billion lost in St. Louis County, $2.62 billion went to its neighbor, St. Charles County. Similarly, Jackson County saw $503.53 million and $328.93 million go to bordering Cass and Clay counties.
The one-percent Earnings Tax imposed on St. Louis and Kansas City residents could be contributing to that pattern, Jones says. “It’s kind of a death spiral: The businesses and the tax base start to move out, and schools rely on that tax base, so they start failing.” It’s an ill-fated combination that pushes more wealthy residents and small businesses to the nearby suburbs.
“I think there’s still some work that we need to do in Missouri, from a litigation standpoint, that would certainly make us more attractive” to businesses, Jones says.
Here’s how the biggest losers stack up:
1. St. Louis County lost $5.76 billion in annual AGI and lost 62,783 residents
2. Jackson County lost $2.2 billion in annual AGI and lost 23,357 residents
3. St. Louis City lost $2.17 billion in annual AGI and lost 49,882 residents
4. Pulaski County lost $191.73 million in annual AGI and lost 1,728 residents
5. Buchanan County lost $169.97 million in annual AGI and lost 3,046 residents
6. Cole County lost $120.14 million in annual AGI and gained 193 residents
