More People Leaving California Than Coming

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

For the first time since 1998, the people who relocated from California to other states outnumbered those who migrated in from other states, according to a report released by the state's Department of Finance on Thursday.

California, which had a population of more than 37 million in 2005, had a net loss of 28,565 people to other states during the fiscal year that ended July 1, according to report estimates.

A department analyst said the loss can't be blamed on a mass exodus similar to one that the state experienced before the dot-com boom of the late 1990s.

Howard Roth, chief economist with the department, said California's housing costs discourage people from other states from moving here.

"The outflow hasn't changed much, but fewer people are coming here," Roth said. "Houses were already unaffordable, but they've become more so in the last two years. It's discouraging people from taking job offers in California."

The higher real estate goes in California, the more the net migration out will happen.Some states want middle class people and some don't.California is a state that doesn't.