Democrats have long touted California as the ‘engine’ of the US economy, fueled by Silicon Valley investment and industrial booms that lead the nation.
But while California is the equivalent of the fifth largest economy in the world by itself, recent employment data show its major cities are going backward.
Residents have often praised California’s jobs economy, however figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found much of the state’s jobs base is subsidized by the government.
From January 2023 to January 2025, California gained over 180,000 jobs directly and indirectly from the government.
However, over that same time span, the state lost over 173,000 jobs in the private sector, the data found.
Six of the top 10 metros for population decline in America in 2024 were also found in California, including Los Angeles losing 13,900 jobs, San Francisco losing 10,500, and Anaheim losing 10,400, per Globest.
Part of the decline has been fueled by large numbers of people choosing to leave California in recent years in favor of states including Florida and Texas.
Residents have departed California’s high taxes, soaring cost of living and declining quality of life, with the pandemic often cited as one of the turning points in California’s decline.
The large migration of Americans in recent years has led Florida’s population to cross the 23 million resident mark for the first time ever last year.
California still stands in first at 39.5 million people, but experts say Texas will overtake the number one spot with 42 million residents by 2045.
In 2023, California’s state population rose 0.17%, marking the first year of growth since it was hit with a mass exodus that began in 2019.
The recent jobs numbers showed how everyday Americans have fled California in droves, as almost 180,000 private sector jobs have left the state since January 2023.
This number was only offset by 181,000 government jobs, but according to The Center Square, these were largely part time.
This included 38 percent of these new ‘government jobs’ being from elderly or disabled individuals using government funds to pay for minimum wage part time care and assistance roles.
The outlet added that average working hours have gone down in the state, suggesting employers are reducing hours to bring down labor costs – following moves from California’s Democratic leadership to impose higher minimum wages.
Aaron Pankratz, an economics instructor at Fresno City College, told KMPH that the population and jobs declines seen in recent years can be largely explained by the culture of the state.
‘Right now, it costs 1.5 times as much to live in California as it does in the rest of the United States,’ he said.
‘First and foremost probably has been the very liberal politics in Sacramento,’ Pankratz continued. ‘Some people love it, enough people are fed up with it that they’re leaving the state.
‘And for businesses, you’ve got an extremely costly business environment, we’ve got high regulatory type of costs for businesses, high business taxes, it takes a very long time to get projects approved if they are approved.
‘And so businesses are finding it so much cheaper and faster to get projects started in other states, people are finding out it’s so much cheaper to live in other states.’
While California cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco have been plagued by rampant homelessness and vagrancy in recent years, residents in states such as Texas say they are not as burdened by the issue.
A survey from Business Insider found that those who moved from California to Texas said they did so for housing, jobs and climate.
One of those who made the move, Jackie Burse, said she moved from California to San Antonio because she felt overpowered by the locals’ liberal agenda.
‘I’m a conservative and I feel like it’s difficult to have any opinions in California other than liberal,’ Burse told Insider.
‘Especially when you’re living in the cities.’
Burse said she is religious and feels more comfortable being open about her faith in Texas than in California.
‘For now, I don’t have any plans to leave Texas anytime soon. I’ve found a great church, made many friends, and feel safe here.’
Another person to make the switch, Janelle Crossan, said she moved with her son from Costa Mesa, California to New Braunfels, Texas, one of the fastest growing cities in the US, in 2020.
While in Costa Mesa, she paid $1,750 for a ‘crappy’ apartment in an unsafe area.
‘I never felt safe in my area. I felt like a prisoner in my apartment,’ she said.
Not only has she found a higher-paying job, she now pays $1,800 a month for a three-bedroom home she purchased – property taxes included.
‘Something as simple as moving across the country has made my life go in such a different direction,’ she said.