More Los Angeles County residents are planning to leave the area, with a survey showing many are not satisfied with their quality of life compared to others.
“Five months after our first LABarometer livability survey, everyone’s lives were upended by COVID-19,” said Kyla Thomas, director the survey, which is administered by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, which conducted the survey. “Our latest findings, which reflect the experiences of L.A. County residents during the peak of the pandemic, reveal reasons for optimism as well as concern.”
The study used a scale of one to seven, with one denoting a low life satisfaction rating and seven meaning high life satisfaction, and found the average sits at a 4.3 rating, which is nearly unchanged from 2019. The rating, however, sits below the national and California averages of 4.7.
Overall, the study found that 10% of Los Angeles residents plan on leaving the county in the next year, which is a 40% spike from 2019 data on migration from the city.
Despite an increase in people looking to leave, the study also found that residents perceived there to be less crime, vandalism, and substance abuse in the county compared to 2019.
Thomas said it was encouraging that “perceptions of neighborhood crime are down and that consumer confidence in Los Angeles is rising, even as confidence has stalled in other parts of the state and nation. The 40% increase in the number of people who plan to leave Los Angeles in the coming year, however, raises a red flag. It’s also worrisome that the gap in life satisfaction between L.A. County and the national average has grown.”
Another recent study out of California also found that residents of San Francisco are fleeing the city and moving to Texas and Florida.
San Francisco lost the most residents out of any major U.S. city between 2019 and 2020, according to commercial realty firm CBRE Group. The number of people who moved to Texas from San Francisco increased by 32.1% during that time period, while the number of those who moved to Florida rose by 46.2%.
The moves come after California enacted some of the most strict coronavirus lockdown measures in the nation, which left businesses crippled and residents looking for alternatives.
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“Many of the most ambitious people on the planet have lived here,” investor Keith Rabois, who recently moved from California to Florida, said. “But post-COVID, I think the concentration of talent has atrophied, perhaps permanently.”
Another report from late last year speculated that California could lose an electoral vote due to the exodus stemming from coronavirus lockdowns and high taxes.
