Chico migration, mapped
In 2022–23, 7,622 people moved into the Chico metro and 6,900 moved out, a net of +722. Yellow arcs are people arriving, blue arcs are people leaving. Hover a dot to see the corridor, or click through to compare.
The map couldn’t load. The numbers below still tell the story.
† IRS methodology change in this year’s files (see methodology)
What the flows say
- Biggest published corridors: more arrivals come from Sacramento, CA than anywhere else: 1,199 people in 2022–23. The top destination for leavers is Rest of California (829). The listed corridors cover about 62–78% of all flows; the totals count everyone.
- Trend: net flow has reversed from loss to gain over the last three years, from −1,490 in 2020–21 to +722 in 2022–23†.
Population · 2025
209,211
▲ 0.3% year over year · growing
Peak population · 2018
230,330
9.2% below the 2018 peak
Why the population is changing
- Growth driver: domestic migration added more people than anything else: +504 in 2025, ahead of births minus deaths (−232) and international migration (+329).
- Peak population: the high-water mark was 230,330 in 2018. The 2025 estimate of 209,211 is 9.2% below that.
Net income flow · 2022–23
−$14M
▼ $246M arrived · $259M left
Avg household income · movers
$52k in · $59k out
leavers out-earn arrivals by 13%
Chico wealth migration
- Money moved: households moving into the Chico metro in 2022–23 reported $246M in income (AGI). Households leaving took $259M with them, a net loss of $14M.
- Income gap: the average household moving in reported $52k of income, vs $59k for leavers. Leavers out-earn arrivals by 13%.
About the data
Corridors are IRS county-to-county migration flows added up into metro areas (2023 Census metro definitions; exemptions ≈ people). "Rest of" entries cover a state's counties outside any featured metro. The IRS hides corridors with fewer than 20 returns, so the lists here cover about 78% of inbound and 62% of outbound movers in 2022–23. The in, out, and net totals count everyone. Income figures are the total income (AGI) movers reported, from the complete county totals. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, and household averages divide by the number of returns. Population figures are Census Bureau estimates; the peak covers records since 2000. Years marked † had a change in how the IRS built the files. Full details on the methodology page.
Download this data (CSV), free to use with attribution.
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