59.0%
of 292,494 college athletes play outside their home state. 41.0% play for a college in the state they come from, and 9.9% come from outside the US.
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Major directoryYour major and your sport in one list Camp directoryID camps and showcases at college programs Conference directoryEvery conference and its member collegesWe matched the hometown of 292,494 athletes on 11,891 current college rosters to the state where they play. The result shows which states keep their athletes, which ones send them away, and where every state's athletes end up.
Published October 2026 · Roster data from official athletics websites · Free to cite with a link
The short version. Every figure is calculated from current college rosters and explained in full further down the page.
of 292,494 college athletes play outside their home state. 41.0% play for a college in the state they come from, and 9.9% come from outside the US.
of D1 athletes play in their home state, against 49.6% at D3 and 47.0% at D2. D1 is the most national level by a wide margin.
of D1 men's tennis players come from outside the US, and so do 58.0% of D1 women's tennis players. In football and softball the figure is about 1%.
states send most of their college athletes to other states. Pennsylvania and West Virginia keep the most at 68.6%. Nevada keeps 7.6%.
of New Jersey's college athletes play in Pennsylvania, nearly as many as stay in New Jersey itself (28.4%). New Jersey produces 2.1 college athletes for every roster spot at its own colleges.
At D1, 71.3% of athletes play outside their home state. At D2, D3 and the NAIA, roughly half stay home. D3 is the most domestic level, with only 3.8% of athletes from outside the US.
Home state means the athlete's listed hometown is in the same state as their college. Outside the US includes Canada.
Men's Track & Field is the most local sport, with 55.7% of athletes in their home state. Men's Ice Hockey is the least, at 14.2%. Lacrosse is the most national domestic sport: about seven in ten players cross a state line, and few come from abroad.
Sports with at least 40 programs in the data, all divisions combined, sorted by the share of athletes playing in their home state.
9.9% of all college athletes come from outside the US, but the share depends heavily on the sport. In D1 men's tennis it is 61.3%. In D1 football, softball and baseball it is under 3%.
International athletes on current college rosters, all sports and divisions. Canada leads, driven by ice hockey, soccer and lacrosse.
D1 and the NAIA have the most international players, at about 14% each. D3 is the most domestic level. In tennis, D3 rosters are 21.3% international for men and 9.7% for women, against 61.3% and 58.0% at D1. A US tennis or golf player who is not getting D1 interest will find far more room at D3.
In 30 of the 49 states we could measure, more than half of college athletes play somewhere else. Pennsylvania and West Virginia keep the most of their own. Small states and those with few colleges keep the fewest.
States with at least 300 athletes in the data. Wyoming is left out because its college rosters could not be read. State figures are weighted for roster coverage, as explained in the methodology.
We compared how many college athletes each state produces with how many roster spots its own colleges have. A number above 100 means the state sends more athletes out than it takes in.
New Jersey, Florida, Texas and California produce far more college athletes than their colleges can roster. Athletes from these states face more competition at home and benefit most from a wide search.
Colleges in these states fill most of their rosters with athletes from elsewhere. For an out-of-state recruit, that means programs used to recruiting across state lines.
States whose colleges have at least 500 roster spots in the data. Figures are weighted for roster coverage in each state.
For each state: how many of its athletes are on current college rosters, the share who stay home, the three states they most often go to, and how much of the state's own college rosters come from elsewhere.
| Home state | Athletes | Stay home | Top destinations | Rosters from out of state | Explore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3,446 | 44% | Georgia 8% · Mississippi 8% · Tennessee 8% | 66% | CollegesFeeders |
| Alaska | 381 | 9% | Colorado 8% · Minnesota 8% · Washington 7% | 76% | CollegesFeeders |
| Arizona | 3,655 | 18% | California 10% · Colorado 7% · Iowa 4% | 70% | CollegesFeeders |
| Arkansas | 1,951 | 60% | Missouri 8% · Oklahoma 5% · Kansas 4% | 68% | CollegesFeeders |
| California | 20,165 | 47% | New York 5% · Oregon 4% · Massachusetts 3% | 40% | CollegesFeeders |
| Colorado | 4,901 | 28% | California 6% · Iowa 5% · New York 4% | 69% | CollegesFeeders |
| Connecticut | 4,572 | 24% | Massachusetts 19% · New York 15% · Pennsylvania 8% | 79% | CollegesFeeders |
| Delaware | 920 | 8% | Pennsylvania 46% · Maryland 8% · Virginia 7% | 89% | CollegesFeeders |
| Florida | 12,083 | 27% | Georgia 7% · North Carolina 7% · New York 5% | 59% | CollegesFeeders |
| Georgia | 9,492 | 42% | North Carolina 7% · South Carolina 7% · Tennessee 5% | 48% | CollegesFeeders |
| Hawaii | 1,501 | 14% | California 22% · Oregon 14% · Washington 10% | 73% | CollegesFeeders |
| Idaho | 1,285 | 35% | Oregon 10% · Montana 9% · California 6% | 70% | CollegesFeeders |
| Illinois | 12,036 | 40% | Wisconsin 12% · Iowa 6% · Indiana 6% | 50% | CollegesFeeders |
| Indiana | 6,618 | 60% | Ohio 6% · Illinois 5% · Michigan 4% | 58% | CollegesFeeders |
| Iowa | 4,409 | 66% | Minnesota 5% · South Dakota 4% · Missouri 4% | 60% | CollegesFeeders |
| Kansas | 3,353 | 51% | Missouri 14% · Nebraska 4% · Iowa 3% | 67% | CollegesFeeders |
| Kentucky | 3,297 | 55% | Indiana 9% · Ohio 8% · Tennessee 3% | 65% | CollegesFeeders |
| Louisiana | 2,755 | 43% | Mississippi 12% · Texas 7% · Arkansas 7% | 64% | CollegesFeeders |
| Maine | 1,102 | 64% | Massachusetts 8% · New Hampshire 6% · New York 4% | 68% | CollegesFeeders |
| Maryland | 6,902 | 28% | Pennsylvania 21% · Virginia 8% · New York 7% | 65% | CollegesFeeders |
| Massachusetts | 6,997 | 36% | New York 11% · New Hampshire 10% · Connecticut 8% | 75% | CollegesFeeders |
| Michigan | 7,683 | 59% | Ohio 8% · Indiana 6% · Illinois 3% | 42% | CollegesFeeders |
| Minnesota | 7,174 | 44% | Wisconsin 13% · South Dakota 6% · Iowa 6% | 48% | CollegesFeeders |
| Mississippi | 1,659 | 48% | Alabama 10% · Louisiana 8% · Tennessee 5% | 73% | CollegesFeeders |
| Missouri | 5,734 | 52% | Kansas 10% · Illinois 9% · Iowa 3% | 61% | CollegesFeeders |
| Montana | 1,209 | 56% | North Dakota 12% · Washington 4% · Minnesota 3% | 60% | CollegesFeeders |
| Nebraska | 2,291 | 43% | South Dakota 11% · Iowa 11% · Kansas 7% | 58% | CollegesFeeders |
| Nevada | 1,310 | 8% | California 15% · Illinois 5% · Oregon 5% | 80% | CollegesFeeders |
| New Hampshire | 1,523 | 36% | Massachusetts 16% · Maine 11% · New York 9% | 80% | CollegesFeeders |
| New Jersey | 10,730 | 28% | Pennsylvania 27% · New York 13% · Massachusetts 6% | 47% | CollegesFeeders |
| New Mexico | 805 | 30% | Colorado 14% · Texas 8% · California 5% | 75% | CollegesFeeders |
| New York | 15,187 | 58% | Pennsylvania 9% · Massachusetts 6% · Connecticut 5% | 58% | CollegesFeeders |
| North Carolina | 7,804 | 51% | Virginia 11% · South Carolina 7% · Pennsylvania 3% | 65% | CollegesFeeders |
| North Dakota | 917 | 61% | Minnesota 16% · South Dakota 8% · Colorado 2% | 71% | CollegesFeeders |
| Ohio | 11,163 | 54% | Pennsylvania 8% · Indiana 6% · Kentucky 5% | 52% | CollegesFeeders |
| Oklahoma | 3,484 | 56% | Kansas 9% · Missouri 6% · Arkansas 5% | 61% | CollegesFeeders |
| Oregon | 2,825 | 43% | California 15% · Washington 7% · Idaho 3% | 67% | CollegesFeeders |
| Pennsylvania | 16,092 | 69% | New York 6% · Ohio 3% · Maryland 3% | 54% | CollegesFeeders |
| Rhode Island | 955 | 25% | Massachusetts 26% · New York 9% · New Hampshire 7% | 90% | CollegesFeeders |
| South Carolina | 3,911 | 54% | North Carolina 16% · Virginia 4% · Georgia 4% | 66% | CollegesFeeders |
| South Dakota | 1,505 | 62% | Iowa 11% · Minnesota 11% · North Dakota 4% | 71% | CollegesFeeders |
| Tennessee | 4,172 | 41% | Kentucky 7% · Georgia 5% · Alabama 5% | 72% | CollegesFeeders |
| Texas | 19,341 | 42% | Oklahoma 7% · Arkansas 6% · Kansas 3% | 36% | CollegesFeeders |
| Utah | 1,757 | 41% | California 7% · Virginia 6% · Colorado 5% | 63% | CollegesFeeders |
| Vermont | 560 | 35% | New York 15% · Massachusetts 10% · Maine 10% | 88% | CollegesFeeders |
| Virginia | 8,692 | 49% | Pennsylvania 9% · North Carolina 7% · Maryland 5% | 54% | CollegesFeeders |
| Washington | 4,778 | 30% | Oregon 13% · California 13% · Idaho 5% | 51% | CollegesFeeders |
| Washington, D.C. | 488 | 5% | Pennsylvania 17% · New York 12% · Maryland 10% | 98% | No state page |
| West Virginia | 1,283 | 69% | Pennsylvania 9% · Ohio 6% · Kentucky 3% | 79% | CollegesFeeders |
| Wisconsin | 5,762 | 56% | Minnesota 11% · Iowa 5% · Illinois 4% | 57% | CollegesFeeders |
| Wyoming | 405 | Wyoming college rosters could not be read, so these figures are not available. | CollegesFeeders | ||
Athletes is the number of college athletes from that state on the rosters we read. Top destinations show the share of the state's athletes who play in each state. Rosters from out of state is the share of players at the state's own colleges whose hometown is in another state or outside the US.
Four rules that come straight out of the data.
59.0% of college athletes play outside their home state, and 71.3% at D1. Limiting a list to local schools leaves out where most athletes end up.
If you live in an exporting state like New Jersey, Florida, Texas or California, more athletes are chasing the spots at home. Programs in importing states are used to recruiting from far away.
Each state has clear destinations. Use the table above and your state's feeder page to see where athletes from your schools and clubs have gone.
In tennis, golf, men's soccer and ice hockey, international players take a large share of D1 spots. D3 rosters are far more domestic, with only 3.8% of athletes from outside the US.
See where roster spots are opening this year, and how many of them go to transfers in your sport.
Pathley turns this data into a plan built around one athlete. Delivered within 24 hours, one payment, and an expert checks every plan.
Your 20 to 25 best-fit schools across every state that fits, with fit reads, real costs and a dated timeline.
See the Recruiting PlanSee the roster at your position, by class year, for 3, 8 or 15 schools you choose.
See the Roster ReportOne program covered end to end: fit, roster at your position, the coach to email and the outreach.
See the Target School PlanEverything on this page comes from public roster data, collected and cleaned the same way for every program.
Pathley. Where College Athletes Come From, 2026-27 season. Published October 2026. https://www.pathley.ai/where-college-athletes-come-from
Journalists, coaches and counselors are welcome to use any figure on this page with a link back to this study. For your state's full numbers or a cut by sport or division, email contact@pathley.ai.
41.0% of the 292,494 athletes on current college rosters play for a college in their home state. 49.1% play in another state and 9.9% come from outside the US. At D1, only 28.7% stay in their home state.
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where 68.6% of college athletes play in their home state. Iowa follows at 66.1%. Nevada, Delaware and Washington, D.C. keep fewer than one in ten.
Men's tennis. 46.5% of men's tennis players at all levels come from outside the US, and 61.3% at D1. Women's tennis is next at 58.0% at D1, followed by men's ice hockey.
Yes. 49.6% of D3 athletes play in their home state, against 28.7% at D1, and only 3.8% of D3 athletes come from outside the US.
From the 2026-27 rosters published on each program's official athletics website, collected by Pathley in October 2026. Each athlete's listed hometown is matched to the state of their college.
Updated October 2026 with 2026-27 rosters. Pathley refreshes college rosters every year.