California reports first ever yearly population decline

[Calista241]

Source: ABC News

California’s population fell by more than 182,000 people in 2020, marking the first year-over-year loss ever recorded for the nation’s most populous state.

State officials announced Friday that California’s population dipped 0.46% to just under 39.5 million people from January 2020 to January 2021.

The news comes one week after the U.S. Census Bureau announced a paltry population growth for California, resulting in the state losing a congressional seat for the first time because it grew more slowly than other states over the past decade.

But the census numbers reflect the state’s population in April 2020. The new state numbers released Friday reflect the state’s population as of January 2021.

The state four most populated cities -- Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco -- lost a combined 88,000 people. LA dropped the most at nearly 52,000 and has now lost about 75,000 people in the last three years to fall to an overall population of just over 3.9 million.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/californias-population-fell-time-history-77558322

[Sibelius Fan]

1. I'm OK with that. It's too crowded here, there's a huge housing crisis and there

seems to be no cap on soaring rents.

Best of all, methinks most of the people leaving are Rs heading for Tx.

[spooky3]

5. Is it true that some are going to Vegas and Arizona? Nt

[rollin74]

12. Reno sure is getting a lot of ex-Californians right now

they can't build homes and apartment buildings fast enough right now

the influx of folks moving from California is making a noticeable difference in local politics recently with a more liberal population moving in

it's no surprise to me that CA is losing population now as a lot of it is moving to Nevada

[spooky3]

20. I visited Lake Tahoe years ago--so breathtakingly beautiful.

If people can work remotely, completely understandable that they would move to the NV side near there.

[rollin74]

22. yes. the amazing opportunities for nearby outdoor recreation

are one of the many reasons people are moving to northern Nevada in droves

I visit Tahoe and the surrounding area frequently. Just a short drive away. Love it there.

[kimbutgar]

43. I known 3 of my friends who have moved from the SF Bay area in the last couple

To Reno one for retirement and the other two couldn’t afford to live in the SF Bay Area anymore.

[not fooled]

23. Yes, Arizona

something like 80,000 CA-->AZ in 2019 is what I heard.

[ripcord]

27. Arizona is a natural for older people leaving California

Not only is it much cheaper but they are close enough for visits to and from California.

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. My evangelical cousins (2 extended families, 20+ people) just moved to Tennessee

They moved specifically to live in a more conservative community.

[Sibelius Fan]

25. Sure. We lived in Vegas for 3 years before moving to CA.

Vegas is like living on an island. Everything is 5 hours away.

[DENVERPOPS]

37. I drive around Denver

and California license plates are everywhere......But nothing compared to the numbers of TEXAS plates that have saturated Denver.

It reminds me of the times, around 1970, that we got invaded by tons of people, mostly coming from California, Texas and New York.
Two Very popular bumper stickers on cars were: "Don't Californicate Colorado," and simply "Native"
The natives of Colorado despised all of these "transplants", and felt John Denver's song: Rocky Mountain High, influenced all those droves of people to come.
Denver Metro is going through another incoming population boom as we talk. There are few houses up for sale, and the prices are prohibitive. It is insanity. The worse thing is that the incoming people, flooding in here are driving house prices way up.
The cities are crying all the way to the bank, because of all the subsequent increases in Real Estate Taxes.
We own a property near Denver, and our new assessment that just came today, was, to say the least, stunning. They valued our property 64% higher than two years ago. I haven't a clue how old retired people, who have lived in their houses for decades, can afford the outrageous increases property taxes.............

[spooky3]

50. I believe it. Denver is so pretty. I hope the retired people

Don’t have to move.

It’s a little less dramatic, but Palm Springs has had a 30% jump this year. Probably a lot of people from LA who now can work from home figure they can buy a much nicer house for the money and still have plenty for kids’ school, travel and fun.

[Ace Rothstein]

52. I couldn't imagine spending May through September in Palm Springs.

Perfect the rest of the year though.

[spooky3]

54. ditto nt

[DENVERPOPS]

53. That exact scenario has taken place the last forty years

with people cashing out of outrageously priced homes in Calif and moving to Denver and having a home and lifestyle like you said.

All these people with a chunk of money think nothing of paying 30-100K MORE than the asking price to buy a home in the Metro Denver Area. Currently, there are more Realtors in Denver than homes for sale..Seriously. Because Property Taxes are based on recent sales, the Property Taxes are skyrocketing with no end in sight.

I don't remember the particulars, but California faced the same thing decades ago. The old people would have to sell their house and move, because there was no way they could pay the massive increases in property Taxes. Was it Prop 13? that somewhat froze the taxes at the time you bought your home, plus a small increase every year??????

The surge in Denver Metro has accelerated, especially in Denver, just the past six-twelve months, so it will be the NEXT assessment two years from now that will be the monster increase......with the Covid added in, the tax increases will be devestating.
Good old Boulder County didn't hold back. We have a property in Boulder County, (not city) and our Assessment went up an incredible 64% in the assessment we just received a week ago......SIXTY FOUR PERCENT...........

And people wonder why Boulder is called "The Peoples Republic of Boulder"...... No longer a bunch of hippies, but an Uber expensive bedroom community for the Uber Rich who commute to Denver.......

WASF

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

49. Many are moving to Texas. nt

[DENVERPOPS]

55. Awesome

Anywhere but Colorado...........

[JohnSJ]

10. Me too

[Lovie777]

2. Hard to tell especially in Los Angeles . ..

they are building apartment and homes like crazy and as to traffic, we are about normal.

[Demovictory9]

57. yes, orange county too. every vacant piece of land - apartments are a bunch of town homes

[Polly Hennessey]

3. Sounds good to me. Hoping

it is the riff-raff leaving, rich Libertarians or red-neck whackos.

[bearsfootball516]

4. I mean, if a couple hundred thousand liberals wanted to move to Texas and turn it blue...

I wouldn't be complaining.

[Fiendish Thingy]

26. The liberals are moving to Portland and Seattle. Nt

[oldsoftie]

41. They may move right BACK from Portland

They cant seem to get their shit together

[Fiendish Thingy]

42. Portland is way cheaper than most California cities.

I know of several millennial Californians who have moved to Portland who aren’t planning on returning to California, as they just can’t afford to live there,

[WA-03 Democrat]

6. The years I lived in California

Every single one of these “libertarians” were just asshole republicans who were too afraid and dishonest to admit their stance. There is a reason The Democratic Party has a super majority in California...republicans suck at government.

[cstanleytech]

11. "republicans suck at government" About 99.999% of them in office suck at being decent human beings.

[DBoon]

14. How can you expect to govern well

when you take your philosophy from books like "The Virtue of Selfishness"?

[Auggie]

7. Yeah, but a 182,000 compared to 39.5m is a drop in the bucket

[former9thward]

44. Maybe, but it meant the loss of a Congressional seat.

[pnwmom]

8. More than 62K Covid deaths have been recorded in CA, and that may be an undercount.

So that's part of it.

They also saw a decline in births last year in CA, so there were fewer babies to balance the excess deaths.

https://fox40.com/news/california-connection/pandemic-baby-bust-california-sees-23-decline-in-births/

[DBoon]

16. and Trump's anti-immigrant moves reduced that source of population

[pnwmom]

19. Yup. n/t

[The Mouth]

9. We don't have enough water as it is

This state is so far beyond the carrying capacity of the water and roads we have that losing 5 or 10 million would help things.

[BigmanPigman]

28. Bingo!

[DENVERPOPS]

38. If you think your water problems are bad now

Just wait.

There was a serious shortfall of snow in the Colorado mountains this year, and a lot less than normal amounts of water are entering the Colorado River. So, watch out Las Vegas, Phoenix, and So Cal............

The Colorado River supplies the electricity for all those lights in Vegas, do you suppose they will have to turn off their lights and shut down all those water fountains???? And maybe let the grass die on the zillions of golf courses, empty all the back yard pools, and call it quits on all the green lawns??????

[oldsoftie]

40. Time to start building more desalination plants

Not THE answer, but could be a good
piece of it

[roamer65]

47. The Great Lakes will NOT be an option.

Californians can move here, but there will not be water diversion...PERIOD.

[ripcord]

51. Most of the state would have plenty of water

It is only the overbuilt coastal areas that are a problem, who would have thought allowing millions of people to move into areas with an inadequate water supply was a stupid idea? We have drought problems and the coastal areas are greedy enough to think other areas should supply them from their water tables.

[Grokenstein]

13. Rightwankers have been screaming for years

that they're going to pull out of California and leave us to our fate. If that's what's happening now, I will gladly help each and every one of them pack.

I'm just curious: where are they headed? The state with the exploding silos and the electrical grid that breaks down when you need it most? The state where the white-supremo militias like to hang out? One of those bottom-of-every-standard-of-living southern red "taker" states?

Can we get them to sign a legal document barring them from ever returning?

[True Dough]

18. You got it

Texas and Florida continue to grow in population. Wouldn't want to live in either state, personally.

I have vacationed in Florida. That was enough for me.

[Mr.Bill]

21. Arizona where they know

how to count ballots properly.

[DBoon]

15. Bet many of them are recent in-migrants going home

It seems that everyone who comes here from another state hates California because it is not just like their home state.

If they just moved back, all of our traffic congestion problems would be solved.

[former9thward]

45. As someone in Arizona I would love if all the Californians went back home.

[OnlinePoker]

17. How many are living on the street uncounted because they can't afford rent? n/t

[Mr.Bill]

29. Hard to tell how accurate they are,

but the Census makes an effort to count them, too.

[jmowreader]

30. I think half of them moved to North Idaho

Unfortunately, we’re getting the most right-wing ones they had.

[catchnrelease]

35. Just this week

My chiropractor told me she's moving to Idaho as soon as she sells her house here in SoCal. She didn't say why and I didn't ask. She did say that she has had no luck so far getting a house up there because they are being bought so fast. Said she looked at houses 500-600k and she would need another 100k over that to get the sale over other buyers! (I forget what area of the state she was looking in.) Yikes!

I was born here, and I'm staying. I'm just as happy to see those unhappy with Calif leave and don't come back.

Edit to add: I have to admit to feeling a little bit of shadenfreude during the freeze in Texas, thinking of all those people who comment on places like NextDoor etc. about how great it is cuz they're moving to a much better place with low/no taxes, cheap prices and so on. (Of course I'm sorry for those that truly suffered or died there)

[Upthevibe]

31. I've lived in Los Angeles for most of my adult life

and love it here now just as much as the day I moved here.

I think the biggest problem is housing. There's a shortage and, as everyone knows, the prices for rent and mortgages are above the national average.

I live in a two bedroom apt. and a couple of years ago we turned the living room into another semi-bedroom (but not with the privacy of a regular bedroom) with room dividers. Right now we're renting it to a student but have had two roommates before here.

I love it here so much. I hope I can stay until the day of leave Planet Earth.

[W T F]

32. I wouldn't trust the numbers to be true if the census was conducted under Trump. Not buying it.

[JI7]

33. Great news, we can take in migrants seeking safety.

[rickyhall]

34. I've heard Wingers been moving to Texas. Maybe right.

[SunSeeker]

36. You'd never know it sitting on the 405 at 5 pm.

[NickB79]

39. It would be smart to leave now, before it's too late

The entire Southwest will be decimated by permanent drought due to climate change in our lifetimes. Better to sell and move now, than become climate refugees in 20 yr

[Luciferous]

48. For years I wanted to move to Texas. A few years ago we had a choice between moving to Texas

or back to Wisconsin. While it was really tempting to pick Texas, climate change did impact our decision. We have family down there and they complain about the heat and the droughts. So I'll just have to settle for visiting once in a while.

[Politicub]

46. I moved away from California 20 years ago for work. I would love to return

to the Bay Area — and would — but there is no way we could afford it.

When I visit family, it’s striking how much more traffic is on the 101.

[ansible]

56. Even when I try to avoid traffic on Sunday morning at 5am in the morning there's traffic

It's an absolute nightmare, this state is literally driving me insane