More than half of WA business leaders looking to move out of state, AWB says
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- AWB survey: 55% of WA employers consider moving their personal residence out of state.
- Some 24% of employers now report they are considering relocating their business out of WA.
- Seventy-two percent of surveyed employers identify the tax burden as top business concern.
Earlier this year, a survey from a leading business group showed that 44% of Washington business leaders were thinking of relocating their personal residence to another state.
That number has since grown.
In the latest survey unveiled Monday by the Association of Washington Business (AWB), 55% of the state’s employers said they were considering an out-of-state personal-residence move.
The new AWB data, collected from more than 400 employers, reflects businesses’ worsening pessimism about the state of the state’s economy.
Washington fared poorer among business leaders in another major metric, too.
Whereas 17% of employers last quarter reported that they were looking to move their business out of state, AWB’s current figures show that nearly a quarter (24%) today now say the same. That’s nearly triple what was logged in an AWB survey 16 months prior.
AWB President Kris Johnson advised lawmakers against dismissing such findings, saying that doing so would “be a mistake.”
“We are already seeing evidence of employers moving operations or moving their personal residence to other states, and we expect to see more in the coming years as plans that are being made right now are put into motion,” he said in a May 4 statement.
The AWB did not immediately respond to The Olympian’s request to connect a reporter with one of those business owners.
Reached for comment, the Department of Commerce said it’s important for the state to “pay attention when businesses and individuals tell us they’re struggling.”
“Commerce, with Governor Ferguson’s support, is focused on creating a Washington where every community grows through access to opportunities and innovation,” interim Director Sarah Clifthorne said via email. “Affordability and stability are key to that vision.”
Critics of Washington lawmakers’ business decisions have noted that Starbucks recently announced that it’s expanding operations in Tennessee, while the Seattle coffee giant’s ex-CEO revealed that he’d left the Emerald City for Miami.
The question of whether businesses will actually exit the Evergreen State because of recent legislative changes, such as a controversial new income tax on high earners, underpinned much of the 2026 session.
Of employers contemplating a personal-residence move, nearly 60% said they’re searching in another state for real estate, according to the survey. Eighteen percent own a condo or home outside Washington already, while 44% are consulting with a tax professional or CPA.
Some 28% of employers considering moving their business outside Washington said they’re actively looking for locations, the survey says. Eighteen percent are coming up with a relocation plan. Six percent say they’ve already moved part of their business.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents view the state’s overall tax burden as “a top business challenge,” per the survey; 64% said the same last quarter.
AWB said in the news release that sentiment has deteriorated “across nearly every indicator” after Democratic lawmakers last year adopted more than $9 billion in new taxes, followed by this year’s passage of the income tax on high earners.
AWB argues that although that tax has been advertised as hitting millionaires, it’ll also ensnare mid-sized and small businesses set up as pass-through entities, where employers report business income on their individual returns.
After the release of AWB’s prior survey earlier this year, House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon pointed to the U-Haul Growth Index, which measures nationwide migration trends, in an interview with McClatchy. The West Seattle Democrat said that people are clearly moving to Washington; the index showed that last year, the state ranked sixth for growth — one spot higher than the previous year.
Fitzgibbon has also defended the income tax on millionaires as helping to reduce the cost of living for Washington families, while Democratic officials have lauded the new law for offering tax breaks for small businesses.
Johnson with AWB said that in addition to employers who are mulling a move, some owners are likelier to grow their establishments elsewhere instead of expanding in this state. Others are becoming increasingly anxious about a recession, moving taxable assets outside the Evergreen State, and banking on not hiring as many employees, he added in the statement.
“We hope that policymakers will regard this as the emergency that it is and respond by developing a pro-growth agenda aimed at keeping businesses from leaving the state,” Johnson continued, “and creating the conditions for businesses to start, grow and thrive right here in Washington.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from the Washington State Department of Commerce.
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 11:44 AM with the headline "More than half of WA business leaders looking to move out of state, AWB says."
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