California's Population Is Moving Out, Census Report Shows

About 100,000 more people moved away from California in 2011 than relocated to the Golden State, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The trend can be explained, in part, in monetary terms. Even in an economic boom, the cost of living in California has increased, prompting people to move out, and, in recent years, unemployment in the state has skyrocketed.

So, where are these former Californians going?

The Census Bureau calculates that the most popular destination is Texas (58,992), a state that is luring California companies. That’s followed by Arizona (49,635), Nevada (40,114), Washington (38,421) and Oregon (34,214)...

A major facet of the state's economy, the agriculture industry has been affected by fewer undocumented immigrants crossing the border, deterred from coming to the U.S. because of high unemployment and a developing middle class in Mexico....

CAIRCO comments:

We all know that there is no such thing as "undocumented immigrants". Illegal aliens have plenty of documents - they're just forged or stolen. We contend that there is not really a major decrease in the number of illegal aliens sneaking in to California. Rather, the numbers are deliberately being under-reported. 

The Summer, 2007 Social Contract journal addresses the issue of How many illegal aliens are in the U.S.? It includes an analysis by CAIRCO's Fred Elbel: How Many Illegal Aliens Are in the U.S.? - An Alternative Methodology for Discovering the Numbers.

As for mass exodus from California, Colorado experienced a mass influx of excapees from California in the 80s and 90s. We're lucky right now that Texas is a more popular destination than Colorado. Yet while we try to stabilize Colorado's population, we must remember that we are not immune from waves of escapees from other states, nor are we immune from waves of illegal aliens sneaking in to Colorado.