Last week the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its seminal, annual Rich States, Poor States report, which ranks all 50 states on their economic competitiveness using metrics like total tax burden, labor laws and the cost of debt service. Open the Books did a complimentary analysis, digging into county-level statistics.

We usually measure migration by counting how many people leave. But that’s only part of the picture. When people move, they don’t just relocate, they take their income, spending power, and economic impact with them.

A survey of 2,315 counties using data published by the IRS demonstrates billions of dollars of dollars in adjusted gross income (AGI) have been leaving counties that house major urban centers.

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