California continues to experience a surge of residents leaving the state, surpassed only by the number seen leaving New York.
Between April 2020 and July 2022, the Golden State’s population fell by over half a million, according to the Los Angeles Times. Although New York was the biggest loser with roughly 715,000 more people leaving the state than moving in, this number surpassed the rates seen in California only by approximately 15,000 individuals.
In many cases, people are leaving New York and California for places like Texas. Between 2018 and 2019, about 50,000 Californians moved to the Lone Star State, a popular destination for migrating Americans. In fact, between April 2020 and July 2022, Texas gained roughly 884,000 people, the highest of any state in the country.
While migration out of California has persisted for years, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the volume of exits.
High costs of housing, especially in major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, have pushed people elsewhere. The matter worsened during the pandemic when many Californians worked from home. Proximity to the office was less valuable, especially since it typically meant a high monthly mortgage or rental payment.
Zooming in on the 12 months between July 2021 and July 2022, California lost roughly 211,000 people. Of those losses, almost 50% were from Los Angeles County.
Paul Ong, who is the director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA, told the LA Times that sociopolitical, health and economic factors are to blame for the bleeding numbers. He said that high home prices force people to seek housing outside the state, even at the cost of reduced wages.
“While salaries in other regions and states are lower, the cost of housing is even lower,” Ong said, as reported by the LA Times. “This means that they have a higher standard of living because of more disposable income and/or high chance of owning.”
While Los Angeles County is experiencing substantial drops, the city of LA, in particular, is witnessing a surging exodus, Ong explained.
Referring to the steep drop in population, Ong said a “clear and sharp spike” occurred “during the pandemic.”
Angelenos left “the denser urban core, where COVID-19 risk was perceived as being higher,” he said. According to Ong, the rise of remote work accelerated the decline.
While Ong maintains that the exodus has slowed since peaking in 2020, he said the population lost during COVID-19 has yet to recover.
Despite the loss of people from California, it remains the largest U.S. state at just over 39 million residents. Texas comes in second, with a population of roughly 30 million people.
