This house
that'll cost you $9,000 a month.
California's population is going down.
Last year, 275,000 people left.
That's equivalent
to half the population of Wyoming.
And before the past couple of years,
it had never seen a population decline.
Do I see friends leaving?
Yeah, some have,
but maybe we shouldn't be that shocked.
After all, this place is expensive.
Avocado toast.
$13 and a latte $6.
A dozen eggs $12.
That's $1 an egg
a bottle of water.
$7.29
There's good reasons why
California is so expensive.
Many people here are not able
to afford a decent home.
The median home
price here has soared to $834,000.
It's a human need, right?
And this guy I meet
says he left California
for Texas, basically,
so he could afford to buy
a decent sized house.
I'm an economic refugee from the bay.
According to online estimates,
this house behind me
is valued at $2.1 million.
L.A. areas like already million
plus like anything good is
a million plus now.
Unless you're working in a
in a high paying field,
it's pretty hard to live here.
From Oracle to Tesla,
companies of all sizes
are quitting the California dream
and moving their headquarters
to places like Colorado and Texas.
And today,
for the first time
in 170 years,
California will lose
one of its congressional seats.
So why are people leaving California?
Why is it so expensive?
And should the state be worried?
Elon Musk,
he says he is moving his businesses
out of California.
between 2008 and 2019
18,000 companies have left California.
And it's a familiar story
dealing with skyrocketing housing costs.
Across the city.
The tents stretch everywhere.
Mass tech exodus San Francisco.
The number of people
living in their cars
or on the streets increased by 17%.
Market will be allowed.
To work from home instead.
The exit highlights
one of the big challenges
San Francisco is having as it banks
on big name companies and their workers
returning to the office.
If California was its own country,
it would be some of the biggest economies
in the world.
At one point, it passed the U.K.
to be the world's fifth biggest economy.
But that could be a thing of the past.
Heat.
For two years in a row,
California has seen a population decline
in California ranks among the top list
when it comes to prices.
Housing taxes, even home renovations.
Gas prices
here are the highest in the country
now at more than $6 a gallon.
Things here
cost 16%
more on average,
than the rest of the country.
And in the Bay Area,
some homes are being sold
for $1,000,000
more than the seller is even asking for.
That's just how crazy expensive home
prices are.
And yet the demand is so high
that now that jobs can often
be done from other cities
or even states,
many people
are choosing to leave California.
I used to live in Cupertino
I started looking for a house
back in 2018 and I'm old-school.
So when I hear the word million,
I think mansion
I was seeing like 1200
square foot homes for like 2.6 million
in places
like Menlo Park
or 2 million or 2.2 million in Sunnyvale.
Even San Jose was going
like 1.8 million
This is ridiculous.
So I moved to Austin to find a nice house
that was affordable.
I was one of fortunate ones
We made smart decisions
about money like my wife and I,
where we made a purchase on our home.
Back in 2015
By doing so, you know, we were able to,
you know, beat the curve.
But to understand
some of California's problems right
now, let's head over to San Francisco.
This is one of the world's most famous
cities, and its population
is also in decline.
And there are a number of reasons
this is happening.
But I can honestly say what I see
here is quite shocking.
I just walked into this store
and it seemed like
there was a robbery moments ago.
Now, everywhere
you look in this area, you'll see police
This Apple store behind me
has three security guards inside.
Then if you look over there
across the street,
you have two police officers.
But even near the tourist
areas, just across the street
from Fisherman's Wharf,
you have a lot of stores and restaurants
that are now just completely boarded up.
It amazes me that just turning one corner
and you're really in a whole new world.
I've never seen anything quite like this.
And not just the homelessness,
but the mental health.
And it really makes you wonder,
how is this California?
How is this the United States?
By the way,
if you're enjoying this video,
make sure to hit that subscribe button
because I'm making more videos like this.
But hold up.
California's decline in population
is not just
because of the crazy high prices
according to the New York Times.
It's also a result of immigration
restrictions, COVID19
and falling birthrates.
In fact, women in California
have their first child at age
32, on average.
Just ten years ago, it was age 27.
But nonetheless, California's
population is declining as states
like Texas are seeing a population surge.
While California
lost 117,000 total residents
from its population
in 2021, Texas grew by over
300,000 residents.
For folks
who are looking for more affordability
and a slower pace of life
and not having to spend as much time
commuting and stuff, Austin is awesome.
And that sounds like housing
really affordable.
My wife and I and family were lucky.
We bought at the right time.
So now we're on the other side
of this bubble.
Some cities in Texas are growing at 10%
a year, a rate
that would literally see
its population double in
just a matter of ten years.
But despite its growth,
a lot of people I meet here say,
No, no, no.
California is worth every penny
and they can't see themselves
living elsewhere.
In fact, it's
even said that to live in California,
people need to pay
an additional sunshine tax for year
round good weather.
Look at the beach behind me.
This is in Venice, and it's an absolute
beautiful day.
And most days are beautiful.
And even in January, February,
you could still be doing
what I'm doing right now in a T-shirt.
So some people even say,
well, that's just the Sunshine Tax.
You can't say. That among most places.
In the U.S.,
most places
do not have
weather like this and a beach like this.
Some have and some have came back.
But I came from those places
that are trying to attract these places.
Yeah. And I'll tell you,
you're not going to spend more
than a year in those places.
And I want to come back.
I mean, California is a beautiful state,
but I think you can find beauty
wherever you are.
Texas has its own charm,
not the same as California
by any stretch of the imagination.
There's lots of things to recommend
living in Austin and in Texas.
It is worth it for.
A lot of things
you can't get anywhere else.
Like this is like a really diverse state.
You know, being an Asian man,
I'd rather be around a diverse
crowd rather than going to like
a different state. Like what?
I don't know.
Like North Dakota
or like Alabama or something.
Or even like Seattle seems a little bit
too white to me.
The housing market is so stressful.
I mean, just look at these stats.
80% of millennials
who bought a home have major regrets.
According to a survey,
more than 60% of millennials
and Gen Z recently reported crying
during the home buying process.
Now, try buying
a home in the most competitive
and expensive housing market.
Future generations
should not fall into this trap of,
you know, traveling
and doing things
just for the sake of
posting on Instagram.
I think that's
what the younger generation is
falling for.
You don't want that
because you got to learn
how to meet the curve.
If you have a good career ahead of you,
if you're graduating
first graduating from college,
save money.
It's easy to save $100,000
within ten years.
You know, want
to make your first down payment,
whether it's.
California or outside of California.
But my question is this what happens
when the country's
most populous state loses
some of its population?
Should it be worried?
The short answer is yes.
It stands out to lose on billions
of dollars of income tax
and business tax concede.
You can see
other states have caught on that.
There's an opportunity
to attract businesses away
from California.
States like Texas are loving
the inflow of new businesses
and population growth.
But here's the thing.
How can a state
which has the strictest regulations,
some of the highest taxes
and costs of living actually expect
to stay competitive,
especially when work is going remote
and people don't need to go to an office
every day anymore.
What happens next?
Will California
just be a place for those rich enough
and willing enough to pay the price?
You think California is worth
every penny?
Absolutely.
There's a reason for the reason why.
is that we have good money
Well, probably not San Francisco,
but for the most part,
I think that it's worth it,
that you get diversity.
You got you have good food