Tri-Cities WA

Franklin County: Who's Moving In and Who's Moving Out?

Cari McGee

Aug 17, 2026 • 2 min read

Franklin County: Who's Moving In and Who's Moving Out?

Much like neighboring Benton County, most people moving to and from Franklin County are locals. In fact, the vast majority come from or go right across the river to Benton County, according to IRS data that shines a light on Tri-Cities relocation trends.

As I explained last week in my post about Benton County moving trends, the IRS tracks where tax returns are filed every year. So you can get a very solid picture of domestic migration by comparing the number of returns filed in different counties from one year to the next.

Data for the 2022 to 2023 timeframe is the IRS's most recent release. Here's what it says about who's moving into and out of Franklin County.

People Moving to Franklin County

According to the IRS data, 5,220 people moved into Franklin County between 2022 and 2023. Just over 75% of them moved from within the state of Washington, and almost two-thirds of those in-state movers were Benton County residents. Here are the top five counties that sent people to Franklin County:

People Moving from Franklin County

According to that same IRS data, a total of 5,349 people left Franklin County between 2022 and 2023. Again, most of those moves were also in state -- just under 75% of movers stayed in Washington. Here are the top five counties where Franklin residents moved to:

The top four counties are the same for both inbound and outbound moves, but the order changes. Yakima is the No. 2 county sending people to Franklin, but it falls to #4 on the list of counties where Franklin folks are moving. At the bottom of each list, King comes in 5th for inbound migration, but Spokane is the #5 destination for outbound moves.

One note: the IRS data suggests that more people left Franklin County between 2022 and 2023 than moved in. That might be a limitation of using IRS tax returns, since tax experts estimate that only 82% of U.S. adults who could file a return actually do. Other sources consistently show that Franklin County's population is rising; Benton-Franklin Trends says it went from 99,750 to 101,100 between 2022 and 2023.

If you missed the Benton County post, I'll link to it right below in the Related Posts section.

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WRITTEN BY

Cari McGee

Broker/REALTOR® and Team Lead

Cari McGee is an award-winning Tri-Cities Realtor® who’s sold more than 650 homes since getting her real estate license in 2004.

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