With California Democrats imposing massive tax hikes on middle-class families, driving up their state’s cost of living, residents are packing their bags and leaving for states run by GOP governors like Arizona, Nevada, and Texas with lower tax burdens and friendlier business climates. CNBC reports that from 2016 to 2017, California saw a net migration loss of over 138,000 people while Texas gained 79,000 people, Arizona saw an increase of 63,000 residents, and 38,000 migrated to Nevada.
As over-taxed California residents are forced out of their state, fearing that Democrats are “going to tax us to death,” GOP executives in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas have worked to cut taxes, reduce regulation, and spur job growth, making their states magnets for thousands of fed-up Californians. While California Democrats remain committed to policies that make their state harder to live in, GOP governors are setting a different example and proving why they are known as America’s doers.
Californians may still love the beautiful weather and beaches, but more and more they are fed up with the high housing costs and taxes and deciding to flee to lower-cost states such as Nevada, Arizona and Texas.
‘There’s nowhere in the United States that you can find better weather than here,’ said Dave Senser, who lives on a fixed income near San Luis Obispo, California, and now plans to move to Las Vegas. ‘Rents here are crazy, if you can find a place, and they’re going to tax us to death. That’s what it feels like. At least in Nevada they don’t have a state income tax. And every little bit helps.’…
[Jed Kolko, chief economist with employment website Indeed.com] ‘said the latest Census Bureau data, from July 2016 to July 2017, show “more people moved out of California to other states than moved in from other states. In other words, California lost people due to domestic migration.’
During that 12-month period, California saw a net loss of just over 138,000 people, while Texas had a net increase of more than 79,000 people. Arizona gained more than 63,000 residents, and Nevada gained more than 38,000.
‘You can literally have a lot of buying power for the dollar in Southern Nevada versus Southern California,’ said Christopher Bishop, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. ‘So it has been a major trend over the year, year and a half, and we’re seeing it increase.’
Bishop said some people who work for Silicon Valley companies are even working remotely from home in Las Vegas to avoid the higher housing costs in California. But he added, ‘Most of the people are here because of our growing job market and industries in Las Vegas — and it’s not all about casinos anymore.
