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As more and more Californians move elsewhere amid rising housing and living costs, the Golden State is on track to lose a seat in Congress for the first time in history.
According to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released on Monday, approximately 203,000 people moved out of California between 2018 and 2019 – with the bulk of them heading to other western states like Arizona, Texas and Colorado, where the cost of life is less pricey.
If these numbers hold true in next year’s census count, California would see its number of seats in the House of Representatives drop from 53 to 52. While the loss of one seat would do little to diminish California’s influence in the lower chamber of Congress, there is the possibility that the states Californians are migrating to could potentially pick up a seat – a move that could alter both the local and federal political map.
“It’s got a lot to do with dispersion from California to the rest of the West,” William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Los Angeles Times. “Arizona, Texas and Colorado are all big destinations for California migrants, and they all are gaining seats.”
Texas has been the biggest recipient over the last few years of the exodus of Californians fleeing soaring living costs and rising taxes, with a recent study finding that 63,175 Californians moved to the Lone Star State in 2017.
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Article URL: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-exodus-losing-congressional-seat-census-estimates