User:DKasemervisz/COVID-19 pandemic in California

Effects on migration and California's population
From 2020 to 2022 California’s population declined from 39,501,653 to 39,029,342, a net loss of roughly 500,000 people. The majority of the population decline is due to Californians moving to other states. High cost of living and housing prices create a significant challenge for Californians and are a major reason for people leaving.

As for the impact of COVID-19 on California's population decline, in a survey conducted of people moving during the pandemic, a significant portion of people reported the pandemic factoring into their decision to relocate. The highest number of people moving due in part to COVID-19 occurred in November 2020, with roughly 20% of movers reporting the pandemic to be a factor in their decision.

The three main pandemic-related reasons for moving were to be closer to family, ability to work from home, and job loss. The first two reasons are a result of the shift to online work; people were able to move closer to their families or move to more affordable, attractive cities as they were no longer tied to a certain city where they worked in person. The last reason is a result of people moving to states where they could resume working as California's COVID-19 policy did not allow their job to continue.

Local restrictions and spread of the COVID-19 were not often cited reasons for moving in the survey. These reasons are more temporary and suggest that people who were otherwise happy with where they lived did not move only due to the pandemic. Instead, effects of the pandemic pushed people already considering moving over the edge.

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