People leaving California moving here in record numbers, data shows

People leaving California to Arizona in record numbers

More Californians are flocking to the Grand Canyon State.

LOS ANGELES - Californians looking to escape the high cost of living are apparently moving in droves to Arizona more than anywhere else in the U.S., new data shows.

That's according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which estimates Phoenix has been a popular relocation destination not only for Californians but all Americans between 2017 and 2021.

Of that figure, 1 in every 5 people (about 184,000 people) who relocated to Arizona during that time frame came from California. The state with the next highest number of movers was Washington at just over 50,000. Texas, Illinois, and Colorado rounded out the top five states.

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That doesn't mean people weren't opting to leave Arizona, however. Both Los Angeles and San Diego counties reported around 25,000 people moved there, respectively, from Arizona.

People leaving Los Angeles are moving to Las Vegas in record numbers

Los Angeles ranked as the second major U.S. metro area people are leaving, according to data. San Francisco was first.

Many of those new residents hailed from Maricopa County, which the bureau determined was the "largest-gaining county" in the U.S. between July 2021 and July 2022. On the flipside, Los Angeles County saw the biggest decline out of any county in the U.S., with over 90,000 leaving.

According to the data, 42,279 people moved from Texas to California and 28,557 from Florida to California. On the other end of the spectrum, 50,701 people moved from California to Florida, and 102,442 moved from California to Texas.

To see more data from the U.S. Census Bureau, click or tap here.