The west has spurred young Americans to leave their homes for centuries; now, however, the young have started to flee California for better opportunities.
It’s not the rich who want lower taxes who have left, either. Working young professional families, those at the prime of their earning power, have driven the out-migration, according to Real Clear Markets.
“California’s middle-income working young professional families have limited options when it comes to an affordable place to live or a decently paying job to afford the state’s cost-of-living,” Carson Bruno writes.
High costs of living, high housing prices, high energy costs, and a high tax burden have pushed Californians to Washington, Texas, Oregon, and Nevada. The lowest, second, and middle-income quintiles make up 85 percent of the out-migration. California’s population isn’t shrinking; births continue to outpace deaths, and immigration hasn’t stopped, though it’s stalled with a less robust economy.
Long-term demographic trends, however, should give the state’s policymakers pause. Workers who leave can’t contribute to their local community, economy, or tax base. That makes California less appealing to domestic migrants and immigrants alike, which makes it more difficult for California to prosper.
Domestic migrants tend to stay within their states; they jump the county line, or trade the high cost of housing in the city for a cheaper, larger home in the suburbs. California isn’t losing its population base evenly, either. Southern California has a few bright spots that other Americans flock toward, as does the San Francisco Bay area.
The trend is notable because Americans aren’t moving as much as they had a few decades ago. The economy has started to recover, but lower mobility has persisted. Available jobs aren’t as economically beneficial as they used to be. In spite of that, California had about 930,000 more people leave than move to the state between 2004 and 2015.
Nearby states get a boost from; they pluck young talent and workers motivated enough to take the risk of moving. For California, however, it’s a trend that could have negative long-term implications.
