Joe Wilson's Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

A day hardly passes without some further bleak news story about the sorry state of the California economy, the dearth of new jobs, and more companies moving out of state (or country) for greener pastures. So it makes sense that Californians are heading for the exits in a mass exodus, right? Wrong! Contrary to the myth of the California exodus, the Pew Research Center designated California as a “sticky state.” A sticky state retains a high number of residents born in the state. California is the 4^th highest in the nation with a 69% retention rate.

This retention is not swelled by low-income residents who cannot afford to rent a truck and leave the state. A TNS Market Research report lists the top ten counties with the highest number of millionaire residents in the nation. Four California counties monopolized the list, pointing to California’s ability to retain high income residents. Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County and Santa Clara County all made the list with Los Angeles County (containing roughly 3.2% of the nation’s population) topping the list with 3% of the entire nation’s millionaire population.

And not only does California retain, but it attracts ever more individuals. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis created a list of the top five metropolitan areas with the most business amenities and a list of the top five metropolitan areas with the most consumer amenities. Four out of the top five metropolitan areas in both lists were from California.  San Jose, San Francisco–Vallejo, Oakland and Santa Cruz top the list as regions with the most business amenities while Santa Cruz, San Francisco–Vallejo, Salinas–Sea Side–Monterey and Santa Barbara–Santa Maria–Lompoc topped the list as regions with the most consumer amenities.

Due to immigration, migration, births and retention, California’s population has steadily increased since the ‘90s. While a relative few might be crossing state lines in a vain attempt to discover the low-tax, high-service Promised Land, don’t be fooled by their stories and lore. The vast majority of us are not going anywhere, and plenty of people are coming to join us. The shimmer of the Golden State is well known.