Unless you're California-weird, this number should jolt every bureaucrat in Sacramento—wandering around like they're groping through dark hallways, looking for more things to tax. One hundred forty Californians pack up and leave their state every single day. Not for vacations or work assignments; they're fleeing, escaping, or unplugging from the once-golden state that's been dimmed by the dimwits.

The number 140 each day translates to more than 50,000 people in 2023, according to the latest information.

That news should be devastating for most people, as the population of a mid-sized city is disappearing every year. For them, this isn't news, it's their new reality.

As the story begins, once upon a time, the word "California" conjured visions of sunshine, palm trees, innovation, and freedom. California was the state where people believed in those things. Believing is one thing, but for those who aren't planning on moving any time soon, the reality is skyrocketing rent, a ruling class living in their bubble, and a growing sense of foreboding, resulting in their asking the question: "Does this life have to be this hard?"

It doesn't take much to discover why people are on the move; the data shows it, people say it, and moving trucks confirm why residents are adding "former" to their address rolls.

Seattle is widely considered a “second Silicon Valley,” thanks not only to tech and aerospace giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing, but also to a strong local talent pipeline fueled by universities specializing in tech, healthcare, and engineering.

I know the reasons are numerous, but let's focus on five reasons people are leaving California.

California was once the place where dreams were made. Its cost of living isn't simply high; it's abusive.

Add the facts that the state income tax bracket—13.3% for top earners—plus new policies coming out of Sacramento are uncapping the state disability tax. Then, we figure out why even upper-middle-class families are feeling broke.

Then, there's the state of Washington, a few hundred miles north, yet a galaxy far away in governance. Washington residents don't pay a state income tax, have lower housing prices, and face fewer regulations. These conditions are a no-brainer for anybody who can work remotely.

Pop Quiz! What do Oracle, Tesla, Hewlett-Packard, and Charles Schwab have in common?

They all left California.

Big business used to tolerate the state’s anti-corporate hostility for access to talent and infrastructure. It's a tradeoff that no longer holds. 

High litigation risk, endless red tape, and local government hostility toward anything that appears to be profit-driven have made it impossible to justify staying. When businesses relocate, so do their employees, and entire industries often follow.

Seattle and the surrounding areas have become the beneficiaries of California’s self-sabotage. Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla, Boeing, and dozens of emerging tech firms have made Washington state a stable, desirable, and tax-friendly home for their operations.

California regulates everything except common sense.

All while navigating a bureaucracy that treats entrepreneurs like criminals and vagrants like clients.

In Washington state, there are still rules, but not layers upon layers of ever-changing edicts meant to serve bureaucrats instead of people.

Moving isn’t easy, especially for middle-aged parents, retirees, or families whose roots run deep for decades. Yet tens of thousands still uproot because they crave something their state stopped offering: control over their lives.

On average, these movers earn around $69,000 annually, while Washington residents overall earn slightly more, at just over $63,000. This alignment in income levels suggests that many are relocating not necessarily for a pay bump, but for a better quality of life and improved cost-benefit balance, where homeownership becomes a realistic next step rather than a distant goal.

In California, you don’t get a say in your child’s education unless you’re willing to fight school boards pushing gender ideology over arithmetic. You don’t get a say in criminal justice unless you agree that the real villain is your car’s catalytic converter, not the repeat offender stealing it. You certainly don’t get a say in taxation or lockdown policies, unless, of course, you happen to hold elected office in San Francisco.

That daily sense of being patronized, milked, and ignored is what drives people away.

In Washington, the political climate remains blue, but it lacks the contemptuous arrogance that has tainted California politics. It’s liberal, but not belligerent. Progressive, but still tethered, at least loosely, to realism.

A man can live with high taxes if he feels he’s part of something bigger. A family can tolerate crowding if the community feels safe and clean. But California has lost more than just people and profits. 

It’s lost its meaning.

The culture has shifted from aspirational to adversarial. Success is punished, faith is mocked, and traditional families are caricatured. And once that cultural contract breaks, people look elsewhere to rebuild their lives. Not just their budgets.

They’re finding that in places like Spokane, Vancouver, and the suburbs of Tacoma. Places where there’s still a middle class, where people wave hello at the mailbox, and where your tax bill doesn’t come with a lecture on your carbon footprint.

Legacy media will try to spin this as environmental migration. They’ll say fires are to blame. Droughts. Climate. However, the real driving force behind this exodus is Sacramento. It’s the fire of elitism, of a ruling class that thinks citizens exist to serve the state rather than the other way around.

People aren’t leaving California because of Mother Nature. They’re leaving because of Gavin Newsom.

If it were just the rich fleeing, the left might celebrate. But it’s the working class. The middle class. Retirees. Nurses. Welders. Small business owners. People who were once the backbone of the state are now told that their beliefs and budgets no longer belong.

Here’s the hard truth: California won’t fix itself until the pain of staying finally outweighs the cost of changing.

But for the 140 people leaving every day, they’ve already made their choice. They aren’t waiting for a miracle. They aren’t writing letters to their assemblyman. They’re packing boxes.

And they’re not looking back.

When we hear about people leaving a country, we call them refugees. When they leave a state, we call it migration. However, the emotional weight, sorrow, loss, and hope for something better remain the same.

California should pay attention not just to the numbers, but to the message: people want their lives back.

And if they can’t find freedom in the Golden State, they’ll find it somewhere else.

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