Progressive Taxes Push High‑Earners Out

California’s combination of very high progressive income taxes and restrictions that concentrate land rents can produce measurable, income‑skewed out‑migration: IRS data (2022–23) show high‑income households leave at much higher net rates than overall migrants. That means tax design and who bears location‑rent capture matter for whether amenity‑rich states retain the people who finance their services. — If progressive tax structures and regulatory capture trigger selective out‑migration, state fiscal and redistribution policies can unintentionally hollow out their high‑tax bases and shift jobs and investment elsewhere.