IRS migration data for filing years 2022 and 2023 recorded 1,366 tax-filing households moving from California to Wake County, covering 2,650 individuals and $195.4 million in combined adjusted gross income — an average of $143,068 per return, the highest average income of any state sending households to Wake. Because the IRS builds this series two to three years after a move happens, this describes 2022–2023, not today.
How many California households moved to Wake County?
1,366 tax returns, covering 2,650 individuals, moved from California to Wake County in the 2022–2023 IRS filing-year window, reporting $195.4 million in combined adjusted gross income. That is fewer households than the equivalent flows from Florida or New York into Wake, but at a substantially higher average income per return.
For the county’s full inbound and outbound picture across all states — not just California — see Where Wake County Movers Come From. In that same window, Wake County gained 39,828 households from all sources and lost 35,985, a net gain of 3,843 households and $363.6 million in adjusted gross income. The entire net gain came from out of state; within North Carolina, Wake lost 3,149 households on net.
Which California counties send the most filers to Wake?
Los Angeles County sent more filers to Wake than any other county in the country, and San Diego County ranked close behind among California origins. The table below breaks out the counties named in this release; the IRS suppresses any county pair below 20 returns and folds those into an unranked residual, which is why the remaining California total is reported as a single line rather than a further breakdown.
| Rank | Origin county | Returns in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | 310 |
| 2 | San Diego, CA | 240 |
| — | All other California counties | 816 |
| Total | California | 1,366 |
Los Angeles County alone is the single largest county-level origin recorded anywhere in the country for Wake County in this release.
Why is the California average income so much higher than Florida’s or New York’s?
The IRS data does not say why — it records a county change and the income reported on the destination-year return, not a motive or an occupation. What it does show is the gap itself: California filers moving to Wake reported $143,068 in adjusted gross income per return on average, against $87,207 for Florida filers and $88,154 for New York filers moving into the same county in the same window. California sent fewer households than either state but reported markedly more income per household.
That gap matters for how this group is likely to shop, even though the data cannot describe intent: fewer households, each with more income to deploy, points toward a different price band and a different tolerance for renovation or new construction than a larger, lower-average-income cohort would show.
Does a lower price per square foot mean a lower cost of ownership?
No, and this is the point most often glossed over. A resale home in Cary has recently carried a median price of $611,000 at $276 per square foot — a median-priced home at that rate works out to roughly 2,210 square feet, against far higher per-square-foot pricing in most California coastal metros. That comparison is real, but price per square foot is a purchase-price figure, not a cost-of-ownership figure, and the two diverge once property tax structure and insurance are added in.
Wake County’s property tax rate is $0.5371 per $100 of assessed value, and Cary’s municipal rate — per Holly Springs’s FY2026–27 budget message of May 12, 2026, which noted Cary had not yet adopted its own FY27 rate at that time — was $0.3400 per $100. Combined, that is $0.8771 per $100 of assessed value, or roughly $5,359 a year on a $611,000 assessment before any fire district, school bond, or other local levy is added. California’s property tax system is structured differently, built around acquisition-value assessment rather than annual reassessment at market value, which produces a different trajectory over time than North Carolina’s system — a lower purchase price and a lower rate do not automatically add up to a lower total bill once that structural difference, and any change in homeowners insurance exposure, are factored in. A lender or closing attorney, not this page, can walk through what a specific purchase would actually cost to carry.
What do Californians moving to the Triangle find hardest?
Three complaints come up repeatedly among Californians who have made this move, and none of them are visible in the migration data itself. Humidity is the most frequently named adjustment — the Triangle’s summer humidity is a different experience than most California climates, coastal or inland. Air travel is the second: nonstop flight options between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and major California cities are fewer than what a Los Angeles or San Diego household is used to, which matters for anyone keeping family, clients, or a job tie on the West Coast. Third, and least visible until the first tax season after the move, is that North Carolina taxes income — moving does not remove a state income tax bill, it changes its structure, which is easy to underestimate if the comparison stops at price per square foot.
Is North Carolina’s income tax actually simpler than California’s?
It is different in structure, not simply lower. California applies a graduated state income tax with rates that rise with income; North Carolina applies a flat state income tax rate applied to taxable income regardless of bracket. Which produces a smaller bill for a given household depends on that household’s income level, deductions, and filing details — it is not a fixed answer, and this page is not the place to calculate it. Anyone weighing the move on tax terms should get an actual projection from a CPA or tax preparer licensed in both states rather than estimate from a generic comparison.
How current is this data?
Not current in the way a listing or a closing report is current. The IRS builds this series by matching Social Security numbers across two consecutive years of filed returns, then publishes the result roughly two to three years after the moves themselves happened. The 2022–2023 release reflects address changes made between a 2022 return and a 2023 return — every figure on this page describes that window specifically, not conditions today.
What can’t this data tell you?
Four limits apply here as much as anywhere else in this series. It is county-level only — there is no ZIP code, neighborhood, or subdivision detail in this IRS release, so nothing here can say which part of Wake County California filers moved into. County pairs below 20 returns are suppressed and grouped into an unranked residual, understating small flows. Adjusted gross income reflects the return filed for the destination year, not income at the moment of the move. And this is filers, not people generally — a household that does not file a federal return, or that moves without an income change prompting one, may not register the same way here.
Who should not rely on this page?
Anyone pricing a specific Cary or Triangle address should not use this page for that — it has no data below the county level. Anyone assuming a lower price per square foot automatically means a lower monthly cost should not skip the property tax and insurance conversation with a lender before assuming that math works out. And anyone wanting a stated reason why California filers report higher income than Florida or New York filers moving to the same county should look elsewhere — the IRS data records what moved, not why.
For a Cary-specific starting point, see the Cary overview. For a comparison of where to settle within the Triangle relative to Research Triangle Park, see RTP: Where to Live. For general relocation guidance, see Triangle relocation guidance, and for the full county-level migration picture behind these numbers, see Where Wake County Movers Come From.
Moving here from somewhere else
- Moving from Florida to North Carolina: What the Data Shows
- Moving from New York to North Carolina: What the Data Shows
- Moving from Northern Virginia to North Carolina: What the IRS Migration Data Shows
- Cary, NC Commute Distances and Routes to RTP, Raleigh, and RDU
- Things to Do in Cary, NC
About the author
Cameron Smith writes Move Up NC’s real estate guidance for Cary, Morrisville and the North Carolina Triangle.
Editorial note: This article summarises published migration data and general relocation considerations. It does not rank places or provide legal, tax or Fair Housing advice.