High taxes, increasing cost of living expenses and political disagreements have resulted in thousands of California residents packing up and leaving the Golden State behind — including some of Hollywood’s hottest celebrities.
Actors Scott Baio and Dean Cain recently announced their departure from the state. Both actors said their decision was based on California’s political stance on certain issues.
In October 2022, Mark Wahlberg announced that his family moved from California to Nevada. The actor and businessman said that his decision stemmed from him wanting to provide “a better life” for his children.
In addition to other public figures, these celebrities have decided to leave California.
Hilary Swank
The two-time Oscar winner put her $10.5 million Los Angeles home on the market after moving to Colorado during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Rod Stewart
Rockstar Rod Stewart decided to sell his Beverly Hills mansion and moved back to England full-time in June. The “Maggie May” singer had grown tired of Los Angeles’ “toxic culture,” felt like he had no privacy and didn’t like traveling back and forth to L.A., the New York Post reported.
Stewart listed his Beverly Hills mansion for $70 million.
Danielle Steel
Author Danielle Steel, who wrote “The Wedding Planner” and “Worthy Opponents,” decided to trade her full-time residence status in San Francisco for life in Paris. Steel didn’t say goodbye to California forever since she stays at her San Francisco-based mansion occasionally, according to SF Gate.
James Hetfield
The Metallica band member left the Bay Area in 2016 and moved his family to Colorado, citing that he was tired of the area’s “elitist” attitude.
James Van Der Beek
The “Dawson’s Creek” star and his wife relocated their family from California to Texas in 2020.
“We wanted to get the kids out of Los Angeles. We wanted to give them space and we wanted them to live in nature,” Van Der Beek told Austin Life in July 2021.
“When we were flying here for our anniversary, I felt an energy to Austin,” Van Der Beek said. “It was really cool to realize, ‘Oh, I can go be there. We can drop in and bring our family to that.'”
California Exodus
Hollywood A-list celebrities and public figures aren’t the only ones saying goodbye to the Golden State; other residents are leaving too.
A report from Storage Café found that 111,000 people, or 300 per day, decided to move from California to Texas in 2021.
A Redfin study found that about 25.5% of its 2 million users, or 510,000 people, have looked into moving during the April to June 2023 timeframe researchers looked at.
Unsurprisingly, prospective home buyers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York looked into leaving those metro areas more than any other place in the country, most likely due to the high housing costs.
The exodus of California residents, which has been a thing for years, gained traction during the pandemic as permanent remote work became a reality for many employees.
No longer saddled with the burden of living in high-cost cities, many people moved to cities in more affordable states like Nevada, Texas and Arizona.