The popular narrative in the media is that people are flocking out of California. Running as fast as possible to Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Tennessee to escape high taxes and an overbearing government. And according to census data just released — it’s definitely true.
The population of Cali shows that 700,000 residents have left the state. The city with the most defections is Los Angeles. Here’s what the director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA, Paul One, said about LA’s population decrease.
“There is a fast, clear, and sharp spike during the pandemic.”
Ah, the pandemic. Experts say it was a combo of increased housing prices and remote work. Thousands of people bailed because of the density of the population of Los Angeles. Nearly 325,000 people left California from July 2021 to July 2022, and well over half were from LA County.
The only city with more people leaving is New York City, which lost 15,000 more people than California. The excuses in the Big Apple were the high cost of living and overcrowding.
Another big reason in Los Angeles was the homeless encampments all over the city. New Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency after her election in December.
On the other end of the spectrum of California are Utah, Texas, and Florida, all experiencing massive population increases from April 2020 to July 2022.
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