over 360 000 people left California and what many are calling the California Exodus leaving
for States like Texas Arizona and Washington what happened I'm Gonna Leave California too
as an Indian it was Always by dream to be in California to being Tech to be a software engineer in Silicon
Valley and also to be a millionaire just like more than nine percentage of California's population
who are millionaires which is highest in the US and in fact California is pro-immigrant and
highest number of immigrants are in California as well if you look at the numbers more than
27 percent of California's population is of immigrants in the last 10 years more than 50
percent of the immigrants are from India or other Asian countries and around 25 percent
of the immigrants are undocumented just like the U.S Mexico border video I showed you and
around one third of immigrants are also Latin Americans so California no doubt is very diverse
and has one of the richest people so what are the problems in California that more than 500
000 people on an average are leaving it let's talk about it in depth so if you look at this
data from April 2020 to July 2022 so around three to four months 508 000 people left California and
it became the second highest number of Exodus like people living their own state in the U.S and going
to different states and as we went into 2021 and 2022 the number increased by 20 so around 700 000
people are leaving California in the last one to two years which is more than New York as well but
if you look at the birth rate in California versus New York no one wants to have children in New
York because it is not car friendly if you have emergency you cannot own a car parking expensive
world most expensive barging is in New York city so that's why birth rate and death rate difference
is more in California as compared to New York so the percentage changes even more in California so
that means even if you include this 200 000 people who were born and which increased the population
still more people are leaving California as compared to New York which is a big deal for
California so if people are leaving California then where are they going we are actually going
to the next most popular states in America which are Texas and Florida if you look at population
increase for Florida and Texas which is almost 1 million people which is a big number because Texas
and Florida are already most populated one of the most populated states in America and they are
suddenly seeing more people than ever so what are the reasons people are leaving California number
one the poverty rate because you might be thinking California is one of the richest state of America
guy you will become millionaire nine percentage of the population is of millionaire one in 11
000 people could be even a billionaire if you are working in Silicon Valley so you know these
big numbers make Silicon Valley California very exciting but the reality is it has one of the
highest poverty rate as well California as a state has 17 poverty rate and the gap between rich and
poor is one of the biggest as well because the richest people out there and the poorest people
who are in California as well homeless population if you have seen my Widow in Los Angeles and San
Francisco you may have seen that homeless people have exponentially grown in the last two years
which have increased in crime rate and which is stopping some small businesses to run properly
so for example if you look at all the streets in downtown of San Francisco or some streets of Los
Angeles where there has been a substantial increase in homeless population business .
Business can't run properly. those shops have to permanently close and they couldn't continue doing
their business and this is the Stark reality and in fact a bit of crime rate with Echo if you're
looking at poverty red you should take a look at crime rate because crime rate is also one of the
highest in California around 300 murders per 100 000 people no doubt it is less than other cities
like Detroit and Baltimore it's even like 3 000 violent kinds per hundred thousand people but
still in California even after the most strict gun laws if you want to take a look at gun laws people
are actually against those gun laws in California in the U.S it is in U.S second amendment that
you as in citizen are you as a resident in America have right to carry a gun because
for your protection but yeah laws are difficult in California so in California you have to be at
least 21 years old and background check you have to clear the check but reality is in some states
like Texas Georgia you can just go to Walmart and pick a gun in some cases it is as easy as that and
that's one of the biggest reason of mass shootings but still you might be shocked even after these
strict gun laws the rate of mass shooting is highest in California so when I was walking on
the streets of Los Angeles San Francisco I was actually scared being alone even in daylight
like the kind of fear I had in my heart in the streets of Los Angeles was bigger than anywhere
I have ever felt number two remote jobs so since 2020 remote jobs have seen one of the significant
increase in the last two years and I also can work remote I can you know go to California Puerto Rico
not in America I can work from any where I want to because I am a remote software engineer too so for
that reason people are given flexibility to go anywhere they want to and for that reason also
people in California think that since if they are making good amount of money it is a good idea to
live with their parents they can you know live in the parents house and save on rent and they
can also buy houses easily so number three point is housing expenses because California has the
most expensive houses in America median cost is around eight hundred thousand dollars for
a family of two which is really really expensive I was looking at houses in Atlanta you can buy
in eight hundred thousand dollars a family of five six or seven so there's a huge difference
in housing market in California and it turned off if you are a single person for an average
one person in San Francisco you might be paying four thousand dollars you can check out this video
for that four thousand dollar apartment tour but yeah that's the reality four thousand dollars for
one person you might be paying and which is so so expensive rents are so high that it is even
hard to survive at a salary of hundred thousand dollars geography software incidence so if you
want to look at the data according to mit's wage calculator if you want to survive in San Francisco
you have to save at least ninety two thousand dollars if you have a family with two children and
which is actually impossible even with a salary of hundred and seventeen thousand dollars which
is around one crore rupees because you will be saving less than ninety two thousand dollars so
paying you know health insurance paying household bills for your children so it becomes not an ideal
state to have children to you know grow with your kids so California becomes very expensive to have
kids and to live with the family so that's why people think the amount of money they had saved
by living in California they can invest by buying a house in Texas Florida because over there Market
is getting really big and they are great states with potential housing growth currently Austin has
become silicon Hills because many companies for example in almost has tweeted he has his Factory
for Tesla there so Austin or Texas has one of the significant growth so housing market is increasing
there and many people think investing in buying a house in Texas Florida Florida is one of the
highest tourism State because majority of the revenue that Florida makes is through tourism
so people think you know if they go to Florida and if you if they buy a house and give it for
Airbnb that is a big business opportunity so cost of living becomes a big thing in California
especially for families and that's why they feel like moving but halaki fought singles for example
if I am single and if I want to you know live in an apartment I still will be saving more money in
my bank account if I stay there and I don't buy a house as compared to anywhere else in the United
States so if you're single it is still worth it to live in California and to save up now number four
political reasons and Americans attitude towards immigration so in terms of political reason if you
want to think about it the majority of the reason is in gun laws and how California is doing things
differently as compared to rest of America so if you look at gun laws as I told you it is around
three to four times more difficult for you to have a gun and to buy a gun in California as compared
to Texas or even Georgia California becomes the most difficult gun law state and it is against
its own Constitution federal government and you know the state government they are contradictory
in that case because it is constitutional right for Americans according to Second Amendment but
California in some cases is against it for example California is Banning the sale of assault weapons
large capacity magazine short barrel rifles and shotguns and California requires all the guns to
be in a closed container as compared to anywhere else people can just drop in their backpack but
but it is difficult in California so accidental shootings can be rare in California but it's
still contradictory because mass shootings still highest in California but according to the data
because of the strict gun laws crime rate has definitely decreased and next political issue
is about immigration because a lot of Americans think that their tax income is going towards
pro-immigration idea because if you think about California it is pro-immigrant State as I already
told you the reality is California is very contradictory in healthcare as well so if you
are under the age of 26 or if you are older the age of 50s you have a right to Affordable Health
Care in California if you are undocumented or if you are poor and it is becoming even
more accessible if you are making less than 36 000 starting in 2024 so yeah Healthcare is
becoming more accessible if you want to get your you know your teeth cleaned it is easier if you do
if you are poor in California as compared to rest of America which is very contradictory so a lot of
Americans think that their tax income because tax rate is one of the highest in California they have
city tax they have state tax it is going towards immigration and they do not like the idea so they
feel like leaving California as well and this is also one of the reason when Indians also cross U.S
Mexico border the highest number of cases are in California because when you go to California in
case anything happens to undocumented immigrants they are more secure in California as compared to
rest of America but majority of the credit goes to the income that is from the taxpayers some
of the Americans do not like it there if you want to look at all the pro-immigration laws
which are in California but not in America they are endless number one the California values act
which actually prevents you from getting retained by ice so it's common example when I was actually
at U.S Mexico border I didn't have the passport or VISA myself the U.S border Patrol to warned
me they said like I'll have to pay twenty four hundred dollar fine just not carrying password
Visa but that is rare in California if you are undocumented no one has the right to randomly
ask you for your passport and Visa if they do not have a warrant and then there is the truth act
which is similar and there is the health for all kids act which actually gives Health Care to kids
under 19 years old regardless of their immigration status and regardless of their income and there is
also the safe and responsible drivers act so for example if my Visa expires I was struggling to
get my driver's license renewed but in California even if you are undocumented you can easily get
driver's license if you pass the test but for me in Atlanta I had to show my EAD card it was
expiring they said you cannot get your new license until I get my Eid card it was very difficult they
were asked me so much evidence when I was trying to get my driver's license renewed in Atlanta but
it is easier in California but even after all of these good laws for immigrants a lot of Americans
do not like the concept of their tax income going into these immigration friendly laws and benefits
for immigrants and that's why they feel like to save on taxes they leave California the highest
the important question why I did not decide to live in California I stayed there for 10 days
I had an option to work in California to stay in California to get a bigger salary my salary could
have increased by 10 to 20 percent if I moved to California but I denied the offer I did it
because first reason the sunrise and sunset I personally you know when I was in Atlanta I got
used to seeing Sun till 6 PM but sun sets at 5 PM there you will say that one hour is not much
of a big difference but I personally when I saw completely dark at 5 PM it was a bit depressing
in India it sets at 6 PM in my city I was more used to it and that's why I like the sun now next
about diversity I personally love the diversity there but reality is even though I am able to
make multiple friends there but the reality is if you want to make make friends chances
of you making friends are lowest in California with diverse people let's say you are Indian or
you know Latin American or someone someone from you know uh someone from Mexico you will end up
making more friends from your ethnicity and your culture because you find friends from there if
you want to make diverse friends the chances of you making diverse friends are actually in you
know the cities where there is less diversity this this is what data proves but reality is
most of the people who are you know in the culture Indians are more with Indians Asians
are more with Asians Latin Americans are born with Latin Americans and they are not able to
you know make diverse friends because they have option to keep their culture from their country
Intercultural friends I have also proved it in this video according to the research why
friendship is hard when you go to diverse States as compared to non-diverse States
and I was able to but I'm just talking about the data and my last decision of
not living in California is again like other Americans that I'm able to buy a house I'm
going to buy a house soon and I can easily afford an Atlanta and create a real estate
business as compared to California with just my middle class Engineers income so that would
be my thoughts some predictions say that now more people will be going back to California
as housing crisis is improving there what do you think about it let me know in the comments below