It's 1900 all over again - more Californians are born here than come from other states or countries. The recession and high housing costs have continued the outflow from the state meaning that growth is dependent largely on offspring of immigrants.
Notwithstanding the foreclosure crisis, high housing costs and high unemployment (the nation's second highest after Nevada) are driving Californians out of the state, far exceeding migration to the state. Foreign immigration has been unchanged for ten years.
"The proportion of Californians who had moved here from out of state reached a 100-year low of about 20% in 2010, and the decade measured by the most recent census was the first in a century in which the majority of Californians were native-born.
The demographics of California today more closely resemble those of 1900 than of 1950: It is a mostly home-grown population, whose future depends on the children of immigrants and their children, said William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
As domestic immigration slowed between 1970 and 2000, foreign immigration filled in the gap. But since 2000, even the state's once-growing immigrant population has been frozen at 27% of total residents. Since at least 2005, more residents have left California than arrived here from other states."
Thanks to Capitol Basement
Read the full story: California demographic shift: More people leaving than moving in
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