California exodus

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The California exodus is a disputed mass emigration of residents and businesses from California to other U.S. states, especially Texas. The cause and existence of this migration has been extensively debated. The term became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1][2][3]

Demographics[]

The California Gold Rush led to a population boom, during which California gained statehood in 1850. It saw a second period of growth in the years after World War II because of the aerospace and defense industries, and a third during the 1980s and early 1990s because of the Silicon Valley tech industry. Population growth slowed in the mid-1990s as the federal government cut aerospace spending after the end of the Cold War, and again after the Great Recession. According to the California Department of Finance, the state had 135,600 more people moving out than in during the period from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020, marking the third straight year of net migration losses.^[4]

The state has had a net loss of domestic migrants every year since about 1989,^[5] and in the period from 2015 to 2019 it had a net loss of at least 100,000 domestic migrants per year due to more Californians moving to other states than vice versa.^{[citation needed]} In 2019, it is estimated that 653,551 people left the state, while only 480,204 moved in.^[6]

The change is clearly visible in state-to-state migration flows. In the period 1955-1960, the 10 largest state-to-state migration flows involving California all had the state as a recipient of people. This is contrasted with the period 1995-2000, where nine of the 10 largest flows involving the state had California as a net loser, with only New York sending more people to California than it got in return.^[7]

Businesses that have left California[]

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Several businesses, particularly Silicon Valley companies, have moved their headquarters out of California in recent years. Though they have moved to a variety of other states, Texas has received many of the new headquarters, including those of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle. Businessman Elon Musk moved from California to Texas in late 2020, though his companies SpaceX and Tesla still are based in California.^[5]

Cited causes[]

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• Taxes: Conservatives have given regulation^{[of what?]} and high taxes as causes for the exodus, and blamed progressives.^[8][9] However, other commentators disagree.^{[citation needed]}

• Infastructure: Economists have cited restrictive zoning policies and lack of investment in transportation infrastructure that have resulted in sprawl, constrained housing supply, high housing prices, and serious congestion. They also cited over-reliance on sales tax, fees, and disproportionate property taxes on new residents caused by 1978 California Proposition 13.^[10]

Criticism of exodus as a narrative[]

The California Exodus has been criticized as a narrative. In a December 2020 column for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Hiltzik argues that California's slowing population growth is a cause for concern, but not indicative of a full-blown crisis. Hiltzik quoted demographer Hank Johnson from the Public Policy Institute of California as saying that recent data "is just an incremental change from what we've been seeing over a couple of decades". According to Johnson, California's population trends don't compare to the "hollowing-out" of Rust Belt cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis, which have lost more than half their populations in the last 50 years. Hiltzik instead says that a lack of affordable housing is California's main problem, as it has pushed young people out of the state, and that concerns about over-regulation is overblown.^[5]

See also[]

References[]

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