According to the latest , California鈥檚 total population declined by more than 500,000 between April 2020 and July 2022.
Put another way, 1 out of 100 people living in California at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had, two years later, left the state 鈥� either by U-Haul or by hearse.
Where鈥檇 they all go?
- Some died, though there were far more births;
- Some left the country, though on net, more immigrants arrived;
- The major driving factor: Californians departing for other states.
Just counting out-of-staters coming in and Californians leaving, the state鈥檚 population saw a 871,127 net decline. If you鈥檙e wondering, this is why.
This isn鈥檛 a national problem. It鈥檚 a California, New York, Illinois and Louisiana problem. California is one of only 18 states that saw its numbers decline and had the fourth biggest drop as a share of its population.
Topping the list of rapid growers are other Western states that aren鈥檛 on the pricey coast: Idaho, Montana and Utah.
That may be why Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently pleaded with Californians to stay put rather than .鈥�
- : 鈥淲hile salaries in other regions and states are lower, the cost of housing is even lower.鈥�
But not all of California is shrinking at the same rate. And no surprise, housing seems to be the key explanation why. A between 2010 and 2020 found that the fastest growing city in California was the East Bay bedroom community of Dublin, which permitted four-times as many new housing units per person as nearby San Francisco.
But as California lawmakers grapple with the housing and homelessness crisis, a familiar clash is emerging between state and local lawmakers:
- Despite a from Attorney General Rob Bonta, elected officials in Huntington Beach are vowing to fight state mandates to permit over the next decade. They also pledged to push forward a local ordinance to 鈥� an untested state law that punishes cities that haven鈥檛 met their state housing goals by allowing developers to build as many units as they like, so long as at least 20% are set aside for low-income residents.
- In the well-to-do 鈥檅urbs of Silicon Valley,. But some cities are refusing applications outright, while others are charging five-figure processing fees.
- A nonprofit financed by the , asking courts to invalidate multiple cities鈥� housing plans, paving the way for builder鈥檚 remedy applications.
- With with state housing requirements, the Department of Housing and Community Development set up a new web portal inviting Californians to 鈥�.鈥�
More housing conflict: Remember when San Francisco that would require any developer who wants to make use of a particular housing law to pay their workers union-level wages 鈥� but stopped short of forcing developers to hire union members?
In an, that put Wiener squarely with the carpenters.
On Thursday, the trades responded. They aren鈥檛 impressed.
- Trades President Andrew Meredith, in a statement: 鈥淧roponents鈥� attempts to paint this as an affordable housing play are disingenuous. This is clearly all about putting more money in developer pockets.鈥�
Housing and inequality: And in many places in California, high housing costs are a driver of the gap between rich and poor.
Though the tech industry has laid off since the beginning of the year, Silicon Valley still represents one of the country鈥檚 highest pinnacles of wealth. Households across the region hold an estimated total of $1.1 trillion in cash and other 鈥渋nvestable鈥� assets. But some households have far more than others.
The top 1% hold a third of those assets, which don鈥檛 include homes, whereas the bottom half own a mere 1%, writes CalMatters reporter . Just eight ultra-rich households held more cash wealth than the bottom 50% (nearly 500,000 households) in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
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