California dreamin’ has hit a 100-year low. U.S. Census statistics show only 20 percent of state residents moved in from another state last year.
And for the first time since the early 1900s, more than half of California’s population was actually born in the Golden State. Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, who helped the Census analyze nomadic trends, said the numbers completely flipped from 60 years ago, when half the state’s residents were people who arrived to capture the American dream.
“California in the past has always been a place people came to sort of reinvent themselves,” Frey said. “But now people who are U.S.-born see there are other frontiers.”
Less developed states with lower rents, such as Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, are now some of the sunny coast’s biggest competitors for new residents, he said.
Frey predicted the percentage of California natives will keep rising while the newcomers will continue to decline.
– Kamala Kelkar
And for the first time since the early 1900s, more than half of California’s population was actually born in the Golden State. Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, who helped the Census analyze nomadic trends, said the numbers completely flipped from 60 years ago, when half the state’s residents were people who arrived to capture the American dream.
“California in the past has always been a place people came to sort of reinvent themselves,” Frey said. “But now people who are U.S.-born see there are other frontiers.”
Less developed states with lower rents, such as Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, are now some of the sunny coast’s biggest competitors for new residents, he said.
Frey predicted the percentage of California natives will keep rising while the newcomers will continue to decline.
– Kamala Kelkar
