Californians Are Voting With Their Feet

California has something of a migration problem. Yes, the state’s population growth rate has been hovering just under 1% for a few years with natural increases and international net migration staying just strong enough for the state to continue growing, but California’s consistent net domestic out-migration should be concerning to Sacramento as it develops state policy. As the adage goes, people vote with their feet and one thing is clear, more people are choosing to leave California than come. First, a note about population growth. A state’s population grows (or shrinks) based on two major components: one, natural increase – i.e. the difference between births and deaths – and two, net migration – i.e. the difference between people moving in and out of the state. Within the migration category is domestic migration and immigration (i.e. international migration). Unfortunately for California, most of the categories are trending in the wrong direction for the state. While remaining positive, natural increases have been trending downward over the last decade-plus. Moreover, the state’s domestic migration has consistently been negative. And even international migration, again while still positive, has been stagnant for some time.