Nearly half of WA business leaders are considering leaving the state, AWB says
Some 44% of Washington business leaders are thinking of relocating their personal residence outside the state, according to a new survey.
The Association of Washington Business announced the findings Feb. 5, suggesting that many employers have concerns about the state’s tax burden. Confidence in the state’s economy is crashing, too, according to AWB’s analysis of data from more than 400 employers.
Companies are also over twice as likely — 30% compared with 14% at this time last year — to expand outside the state instead of staying put, per AWB.
The percentage of businesses reporting plans to ditch Washington leapt to 17%, up from 9% this time last year, the survey says. Taxes, plus the ballooning cost of living, were the top reasons cited, according to the AWB.
This comes months after lawmakers adopted the largest tax hikes in state history in the 2025 legislative session, a move the business community broadly opposed.
Washington also recently fell out of the top 10 on CNBC’s yearly best-states-for-business list for the first time in more than a decade, the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business reported in August.
AWB President Kris Johnson noted that lawmakers are again mulling enacting new taxes; Democrats refer to one controversial proposal as the “millionaires tax.” He said in a statement that they should know the state’s employers, particularly its mid-sized and small businesses, are “under severe strain.”
“We need lawmakers to support a plan to grow the economy, not tax it more, if we want to avoid stagnant employment, worsening competitiveness and businesses leaving our state,” Johnson said.
As for where business leaders say they might look for new homes? Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming or Montana, according to the AWB.
House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, a West Seattle Democrat, pointed out that three of those four states have an income tax.
“I hope that anybody looking to move is doing a real comparison,” he said in a call.
Fitzgibbon also referenced the latest U-Haul Growth Index, which measures migration trends nationwide, and said it’s clear that people are moving to Washington. In 2025, the state ranked No. 6 out of 50 for growth — and that’s up one place from the prior year.
Lawmakers are looking at what they can do to make Washington a great place to sustain or start a business, he said, adding that’s partly why Democrats’ proposal to tax the income of people earning more than $1 million a year also looks to reduce the cost of living and encourage business growth.
Meanwhile, 54% of AWB respondents say they’re feeling strain from tariffs.
A Feb. 5 AWB news release states that Washington’s overall tax burden ranked as employers’ No. 4 challenge in fall 2024, after inflation, the cost of health care and regulation. It shot up to first place last spring and has stayed there ever since.
State Rep. Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican, said capital is restless: It will move to places with the fewest burdens on capital.
“That can mean Jeff Bezos moving to Florida — I mean, that’s massive capital — but smaller capital is going to have the same effect, just maybe not as quickly,” he told McClatchy.
Walsh, who chairs the Washington State Republican Party, said the real worry for him is whether jobs will ultimately follow. Perhaps Microsoft won’t pack up anytime soon, but maybe the next Microsoft sets up shop in Austin or Orlando instead, he said.
That, he said, is the real risk to Washington, which has long been a hub for new businesses and industries, including software and AI.
“But will we be a big part of AI as it matures into a real industry?” Walsh said. “Maybe not.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Nearly half of WA business leaders are considering leaving the state, AWB says."
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