Americans moving to California hit historic lows – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Few Americans are moving to California when you look at the flow in national terms.

Last year, California attracted 422,075 people from other states. Reviewing my Trust Spreadsheet a new data on state-to-state migration from the Census Bureau it tells me those arrivals represent 5.6 percent of the nation’s 7.55 million interstate relocations. That’s less than half the 11.6 percent share of Americans age 1 or older.

This is the third largest flow between states. The top was Florida with 636,933, and next was Texas with 611,942. But in the last 20 years, minus the statistical lock in 2020, arrivals in California have never been lower.

It’s no secret that California is an awfully expensive place to live — scaring off many who would otherwise enjoy the state’s culture and climate. And there’s a good slice of non-Californians who don’t care about the state’s progressive politics.

So the blocked arrivals aren’t all that surprising. The 2023 flow was 11% below 2022, the largest one-year percentage decline in two decades.

Now, interstate moves are down 8 percent nationally, but only 17 states have fared worse for newcomer declines than the Golden State, led by Connecticut at 35 percent and Montana at 24 percent.

To be fair, popularity among the nation’s three largest states has declined. Texas inflows fell 8 percent — the 26th largest decline — and Florida’s 14 percent decline was the 15th worst. In fact, Maryland had the biggest gain in newcomers at 16 percent, followed by Hawaii at 4 percent.

But let me offer another number to show how little appeal the Golden State offers to most Americans.

Consider that the 2023 influx translated to 1.09% of California’s population—that’s a “pull rate” all the way in the nation. That’s less than half the nation’s 2.28 percent interstate relocation rate. Second worst was Michigan at 1.36 percent.

Who draws the best? The mercurial population of the District of Columbia, with 8.48% of residents being newcomers, followed by North Dakota at 4.44%. Texas was 41st with 2.03%, while Florida was 23rd with 2.84%.

Missing appeal – not an “exodus” – is the real challenge of the Golden State’s population.

Jonathan Lansner is a business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]