The number of Californians fleeing the Democratic-leaning state due to the high cost of living shows no signs of slowing, according to a new report from a major moving and storage company.
According to a 2024 moving trends report published by PODS, “The Golden State is notorious for high sales, income and property taxes. The cost of living in California is about 50% higher than the national average, and housing costs can be exorbitant.”
A report released on May 20 found that people are increasingly moving to the Appalachian region of the South, which includes conservative states like South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and parts of Alabama.
“California is the top state getting it wrong on just about every level,” Will Swaim, president of the conservative think tank California Policy Center, told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Add to that regulations that make it nearly impossible to build new housing, and it’s no wonder people are leaving.”
Homeless man on parole in California attempted to sexually assault female jogger by pulling her ponytail on beach, police say
California continues to lead the nation in international migration, according to a new PODS report. (MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Contributor Robert Alexander / Contributor)
Corporations are also getting a piece of the pie. The study noted that data collected from Iron Mountain showed companies are relocating to the southern Sunbelt states of Texas, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Tennessee. Why? Because these regions “offer lower operating costs, tax incentives and better value for employees.”
Los Angeles and San Francisco were the top two cities with the most residents moving out.
Terry Gilliam, founder of the popular Facebook group Leaving California, which has hundreds of thousands of members, said in an interview with Fox News Digital that the list confirms that “it’s not just high-income taxpayers that are leaving, but middle-class taxpayers too.”
“California is number one in everything wrong.”
“I think what California has done over the last few years is displace the middle class. Governor Newsom likes to brag that California has the top five economies in the world, and then he brags that California has more Fortune 500 companies based in the state than anywhere in the country,” Gilliam said. “But that’s just the wealthy, and the middle class is actually the one that is suffering in California, and that’s why they’re leaving the state.”
Governor Newsom proposes cuts to law enforcement, prisons, public safety as California faces huge budget deficit
Under Governor Gavin Newsom, the number of homeless people in California has increased from 151,000 in 2019 to 181,000 by 2024. (Fox)
Gilliam and members of his group toured the South for 10 days, talking to people in every town that had left California, he said.
“And what really matters is quality of life for families, lower cost of living, better schools and politics that resonate with people in Southern towns,” he said.
Four California markets — Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Stockton-Modesto — ranked in the top 10 markets with the most in-migration, according to the report.
“The variety of locations in these cities points to the fact that this is a statewide exodus,” the report concluded.
California experienced its first-ever population loss in 2020 as it implemented strict lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Between January 2020 and July 2022, the state lost more than 500,000 residents, with the number of residents who left the state exceeding the number who moved in by about 700,000.
In January, California topped U-Haul’s Growth Index list as the state with the most net departures in 2023.
California School Board expels state employee who protested secret transgender policy: ‘pervert kid’
View of the Pacific coast of Northern California (Carol M. Highsmith/Byenlarge/Getty Images)
Click here to get the FOX News app
In an email to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Governor Newsom’s office cited the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook report, noting that “According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, California will be the world’s fifth largest economy for the seventh consecutive year, with nominal GDP reaching nearly $3.9 trillion in 2023, representing 6.1% year-over-year growth.”
“California has the second-largest GDP per capita among large economies,” Newsom’s office said. “With the nation’s fairest tax system, we are number one in starting new businesses, number one in venture capital funding, and number one in manufacturing, high tech and agriculture.”
Fox News Digital’s Nicholas Lanham contributed to this report.
