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New poll: Half of California voters have considered moving out of state

By Public Affairs

state capitol building
California's state capitol building. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
state capitol building

California's state capitol building. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

More than half of California’s registered voters have given “serious” or “some” recent consideration to moving out of the state, according to a new poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

Twenty-four percent of the 4,527 registered voters surveyed in the Berkeley IGS Poll said they had given “serious” thought to leaving, while another 28% said they have given “some” thought.

Asked why they are considering leaving, 71% of those polled pointed to the high cost of housing. Fifty-eight percent said high taxes may send them packing and 46% said they were concerned about the state’s political culture.

“Concerns about the high cost of housing span virtually every demographic, regional and political subgroup of the state’s registered voters,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, adding that younger voters were more likely to worry about the high cost of housing than voters over 65.

The poll, the third Berkeley IGS Poll to be released this week , was conducted online in English and Spanish from Sept. 13 to 18. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Read the complete analysis of the poll on the Berkeley IGS Poll website