Moving from Pennsylvania
About 272,000 people left Pennsylvania for other states in 2023, while about 238,000 arrived.
- Two exit steps are easy to miss.
- The first is the plate: PennDOT expects it back, and the timing is tied to your insurance.
- The second is local.
- Outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a local earned income tax on top of the state tax, and it needs its own final return.
- This page covers every Pennsylvania-origin route we track.
Pennsylvania at a Glance
Taxes
Climate
Humid continental with cold winters and warm, humid summers.
Cost of Living
Why People Move from Pennsylvania
Most people who leave stay in the region or head south.
- Census ACS 2023 flows put New Jersey first at about 29,600, then Florida at about 27,800 and New York at about 27,600.
- Maryland took about 16,900.
- South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina each took between about 13,000 and 13,400, and Ohio about 12,800.
- New York, New Jersey, and Maryland each sent more people to Pennsylvania than they took.
- Florida, South Carolina, Delaware, and North Carolina took at least twice as many Pennsylvanians as they sent back.
Pennsylvania sits a little below the national average on cost.
- The MERIC cost of living index for the first quarter of 2026 put it at 96.2, ranked 25th, with housing at 84.1 and utilities at 108.4.
- The Tax Foundation puts the effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing at 1.26 percent.
- The state income tax is a flat 3.07 percent, and local income taxes come on top.
- The state sales tax is 6 percent.
Popular Routes Moving from Pennsylvania
Before You Leave Pennsylvania
Mail your plate back after you get new plates
Get a plate from your new state first. Then mail your Pennsylvania plate to PennDOT. The address is Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O. Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597. PennDOT marks the plate as dead. This protects you if someone tries to use the plate. Send the registration card with it, as the next step explains. To change the address on your vehicle registration, mail Form MV-8. You cannot do it online.
Source: PennDOT, Moving Out of PennsylvaniaReturn the plate within 30 days of cancelling insurance
Your insurer tells PennDOT when you cancel your policy. PennDOT must receive the plate and registration card no more than 30 days after the insurance was cancelled. If they arrive later, your registration is suspended for three months. To avoid the suspension, return the plate and card when you cancel the policy.
Source: PennDOT, Insurance Law FAQsFile a part-year PA-40 for the year you move
Part-year residents file the same PA-40 form as residents. Fill in the part-year resident oval if you moved out during the year. Pennsylvania taxes all your income while you were a resident. After you move, it taxes only income from Pennsylvania sources. Interest, dividends, and gains on intangible property are not taxed for the part of the year you lived elsewhere.
Source: PA Department of Revenue, PA-40 InstructionsFile a final local earned income tax return
Outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a local earned income tax on top of the state tax. File the annual local return by April 15 of the next year, even if no tax is due. File it with the local tax collector for every tax collection district you lived in during the year. A worksheet on the form splits your income by the number of months at each address.
Source: PA DCED, Annual Local Earned Income Tax Return (CLGS-32-1)Philadelphia residents pay the City Wage Tax instead
Philadelphia does not use the local earned income tax return. All employed Philadelphia residents owe the City Wage Tax, wherever they work. Your employer withholds it from your pay. After you move, you owe it only if you still work in Philadelphia. Non-residents pay a lower rate.
Source: City of Philadelphia, Wage Tax (employers)Rent from a house you kept stays taxable
Nonresidents must report net income from rental property in Pennsylvania. They also report gains from selling real property in Pennsylvania. Nonresidents do not pay Pennsylvania tax on ordinary interest and dividends.
Source: PA Department of Revenue, Nonresidents and Part-Year ResidentsTell the assessor within 45 days if the house is no longer your home
The homestead exclusion covers only your primary residence. If you rent the house out, it no longer qualifies. Notify the county assessor within 45 days. In Philadelphia, notify the Department of Revenue. If you do not, you pay the tax you saved, plus interest. You may also pay a 10 percent penalty.
Source: Montgomery County, Homestead/Farmstead ExclusionPennsylvania DMV & Registration
Register the car in your new state first.
- Then mail your Pennsylvania plate to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O.
- Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597.
- PennDOT marks it as a dead tag, which protects you if someone tries to use it.
- Watch the insurance timing.
- Your insurer reports a cancelled policy to PennDOT, and the plate and registration card must reach PennDOT no more than 30 days after the cancellation.
- Otherwise the registration is suspended for three months.
- You cannot record an out-of-state address change online.
- Use Form MV-8 for the vehicle registration address.
- If you need to keep a Pennsylvania license while living elsewhere, PennDOT has an out-of-state exemption on Form DL-82, and restrictions apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to return my PA license plate when I move out of state?
PennDOT asks you to.
- After you get a plate from your new state, mail the Pennsylvania plate to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Return Tag Unit, P.O.
- Box 68597, Harrisburg, PA 17106-8597.
- It is then marked as a dead tag, so nobody can use it fraudulently.
- If you cancel your Pennsylvania insurance, the plate and registration card have to reach PennDOT within 30 days of the cancellation.
When can I cancel my Pennsylvania car insurance after moving?
Return the plate and registration card first, or at the same time.
- Then cancel the policy.
- Insurers must tell PennDOT when a policy is cancelled.
- PennDOT must receive the plate and registration card no more than 30 days after the cancellation date.
- If they arrive later, the vehicle registration is suspended for three months.
- The 30 days count from the cancellation, not from any letter PennDOT sends you.
What Pennsylvania tax return do I file the year I move away?
The PA-40, the same form residents use.
- Fill in the part-year resident oval.
- Pennsylvania taxes all your income for the part of the year you lived here.
- For the rest of the year it taxes only income from Pennsylvania sources.
- Interest, dividends, and gains on intangible property are not taxed for the months you lived elsewhere.
Do I have to file a local earned income tax return when I move out of Pennsylvania?
Yes, for the part of the year you lived here, unless you lived in Philadelphia.
- Philadelphia uses its own Wage Tax, which your employer withholds.
- Everywhere else, file the annual local earned income tax return by April 15 of the next year, even if no tax is due.
- File with the local tax collector for every tax collection district you lived in that year.
- The return has a worksheet that splits income by the number of months at each address.
Do I still pay Pennsylvania tax if I rent out my house after moving?
Yes.
- Nonresidents must report net income from rental property in Pennsylvania.
- They also report gains from selling real property here.
- Ordinary interest and dividends are not taxed for nonresidents.
- If you had the homestead exclusion, it ends when the house is no longer your home.
- Notify the county assessor within 45 days.
- In Philadelphia, notify the Department of Revenue.
Where do most people move to from Pennsylvania?
Using Census ACS 2023 state-to-state flows: New Jersey (about 29,600), Florida (about 27,800), New York (about 27,600), Maryland (about 16,900), then South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina at about 13,000 to 13,400 each.
- New York, New Jersey, and Maryland each sent more people to Pennsylvania than they received from it.