by Eric Lendrum
Of the 360,000 Californians who have fled the deep-blue state in the last year alone, a significant portion are moving to a rather surprising destination to find cheaper costs of living: Across the border in Mexico.
According to the Washington Examiner, California remains one of the most expensive states to live in, with a median housing price of $787,470. In most cities, the yearly property tax is at least $14,000. As a result, many households have failed to pay their property taxes, with at least 2 million delinquent homes in Los Angeles County alone.
In Mexico, however, most properties rent at an average of $400 per month, which would save the average Californian around $100,000.
“We were able to cut our budget in half, which allowed us to really focus on our careers and the things we wanted to do artistically without having to just hustle, and hustle and hustle, every day, every week, to just meet the bare minimum,” said Travis Grossi, who moved from Hollywood to Mexico.
Other woes plaguing the Golden State include the mass exodus of prominent companies that were previously headquartered in the state, especially tech companies that made Silicon Valley the powerhouse it is today. Companies that have officially moved their headquarters to other states include Tesla,
Boeing, and Hewlett Packard, among others; these companies have fled to more business-friendly states such as Texas and Arizona.
Further crushing Californians’ dreams and wallets is the historic spike in gas prices. On Tuesday, AAA reported that the national average price for a gallon of gas hit $5.02; in California, the average is now $6.44. Inflation has affected other key aspects of everyday life, with the average price of food for a family of four in California currently standing at $9,835 per month, which is the 10th-highest in the nation.
All of these factors and more have led to Mexico, a foreign country rife with drugs and crime, becoming a more viable place to live permanently than California.
“I would say at least half are coming down from California,” said Darrell Graham of the Baja123 Real Estate Group. “Suddenly, the cost of taxes, the crime rates, the politics, all the things that people are unhappy with in California are coming down to Mexico.”
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
