According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors, California lost a significantly greater number of jobs than any other state in 2023.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the group discovered that 69,000 professionals relocated to California while roughly 87,000 professionals left the Golden State for possibilities abroad.
“High housing costs—particularly in areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles—coupled with a high cost of living, have driven many workers to relocate to more affordable states like Texas and Arizona,” according to the report.
California’s high state income tax, according to the association, is another important factor that pushes workers to states with lower tax rates. Texas (14%), Arizona (9%), Washington (8%), and Nevada (7%), were the top travel destinations.
Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York are among the other states that experienced a net loss of employment in 2023.
The southern U.S. states of Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida had the highest number of job switchers. Comparisons can be challenging since, as the group notes, migration is naturally higher in the country’s most populous states.
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“Larger states naturally have more people moving in and out, so their migration numbers are often much higher simply due to the sheer volume of residents,” according to the report. “This makes it difficult to fairly compare them to smaller states, which may have fewer people overall but could be more attractive on a per-capita basis.”
Following three consecutive years of population losses, California’s population increased to almost 39 million in 2023, according to the latest available Census figures.
