K-12 Tax & Spending Climate: The California Exodus

Richard Rider:

For decades, California was regarded as the domestic paradise of the United States, lush with beautiful views and ample resources. This no longer seems to be the case. While many insist that those who reside in California are among the happiest in the country, studies show that Californians are increasingly pursuing happiness elsewhere.

In an interview with demographer Joel Kotkin, the Wall Street Journal found that this exodus of California residents is enormous in scale -- with potentially profound impacts.

• Nearly 4 million more people have left the Golden State in the last two decades than have come from other states.
• This is a sharp reversal from the 1980s, when 100,000 more Americans were settling in California each year than were leaving.
• According to Kotkin, most of those leaving are between the ages of 5 and 14 or 34 to 45; in other words, young families.

Mr. Kotkin's analysis has found that the driving factors behind families' decisions to move to states like Nevada and Texas include:

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 29, 2012 1:39 AM
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