A recent U.S. Census report on state-to-state migration found that one out of every four
people who moved to Idaho came from California.
So just why are so many Californians moving to Idaho?
Well, stay tuned and I'll tell you why!
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If you're from California like me, chances are you know somebody who has made the decision
to pack up the wagon and move to the Gem State.
Over the last two decades, the suburbs surrounding Boise have experienced exponential growth;
cities like Meridian, Idaho, which has gone from a town of less than 10,000 in 1990 to
a booming metropolis that surpassed 100,000 in 2018.
In neighboring Eagle, a city that started as a small homestead on the Boise River, the
population has increased nearly eight-fold since the nineties.
While this sudden Idaho population boom may seem surprising, in reality it is hardly a
new phenomenon.
From 1960 to 1980, the Boise metropolitan area experienced a 66% population growth.
In December 1979, a time when many Californians were making the move to Idaho once before,
a humorous Washington Post article reflected on the negative sentiment from native Idaho
residents toward the new California arrivals.
I've heard from a lot of ex-Californians on why they chose to move to Idaho, but the top
two reasons seem to be cost of living and politics.
Let's first focus on the later.
During the last twenty years, we may have very well experienced the death of political
moderatism in the United States.
According to Pew Research data collected on the American public's political values over
the past two decades, polarization between the Democrat and Republican parties has increased
dramatically.
In response, people are choosing to "move to places where they are culturally and politically
comfortable," according to Gary Moncrief, professor of political science emeritus at
Boise State University.
In a recent surge of Democratic candidates being elected across the state, many California
conservatives claim that the political pendulum in California has swung so hard to the left
that it has broken off its rod and flung into an unstoppable trajectory that would make
even Isaac Newton blush.
Following the 2018 elections, Democrats took 28 out of 40 seats in the California Senate
in addition to a 75% supermajority in the State Assembly, or 60 out of the 80 seats.
This means Democrats in California's congress are free to pass legislation that fits their
agenda with virtually no resistance, and they can easily override any potential vetoes by
the governor.
But it doesn't seem like that will be a problem because in 2018 Californians also elected
former Lieutenant Governor and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as their new
Governor.
Unlike his more fiscally conservative Democratic predecessor, Jerry Brown, Newsom has a bold
agenda that includes universal preschool and childcare, tackling homelessness and providing
subsidized health care for all, including undocumented residents.
In addition, California's Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, has made it a personal mission
to fight the White House agenda, having already filed over four dozen lawsuits against the
Trump Administration; each with a hefty price tag that will be paid by the California taxpayers.
Let's contrast this to Idaho where Republicans currently hold 28 out of 35 seats in the State
Senate and 56 out of 70 seats in the State Assembly.
Republican Governor Brad Little expressed that he plans to focus on Education, Medicaid
expansion and Infrastructure during his first term.
In 2017, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden was among a group of 10 other state Attorney
Generals who threatened litigation against the Trump administration if President Trump
did not terminate DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy enacted by President
Obama.
As you can see, from a political standpoint, California and Idaho couldn't be any more
different from each other.
You have a Democrat supermajority in California, a Republican supermajority in Idaho, the California
Attorney General threatening to sue the Trump administration for repealing DACA, and the
Idaho Attorney General threatening to sue if it didn't repeal DACA.
It's clear that the political landscape of Idaho has made it an appealing haven for California
conservatives who feel disenfranchised by their state's government, whose values do
not align with their own.
This brings me to the second reason why Californians are moving to Idaho - cost of living.
According to Zillow.com, the average home value in California is currently $547,000
while the average family income is $82,000.
In the more populous counties, those numbers are slightly more skewed.
Contrast all of this to Idaho where the average home value is $254,800, the average rent is
$1,350 per month, and the average family income is $50,985.
Wow!
That's a lot of numbers!
But what do they mean?
Well, taking into account housing, food & groceries, utilities, transportation and health care
costs, Boise is 45.3% cheaper than Los Angeles.
This means if your salary in Los Angeles were $60,000, you could afford the same amenities
in Boise on a salary of $33,000.
So, there you have it.
The two biggest reasons why Californians have thrown in the towel and moved to Idaho: politics
and cost of living.
Before you go, I'm curious to hear from you.
If you're a former California resident that has left the state for one reason or another,
leave a comment down below letting me know what caused you to leave and where you went.
Or if you recently moved to California, let me know what brought you here.
Thanks for watching and remember to never stop exploring!