Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma
More Californians have moved to Tulsa through the program than those hailing from other coastal states such as Florida and New York.Similar programs have popped up in Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia and other states looking to reverse population decline. The programs, which are a boon to small and medium-sized towns in the middle of America, highlight a troubling, years-long trend of Californians uprooting their lives and relocating to less expensive locations. The transition to remote work following the pandemic has made leaving the Golden State even easier.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
Would you move to Oklahoma for $10,000? Californians find cheap housing, less traffic in Tulsa
If you're a Gen Xer or younger, there's a good chance you've contemplated moving out of California. The reasons are obvious. It's expensive and difficult to raise a family, pay rent or even consider buying a home. That struggle isn't just on the mind of locals. Midwestern and Southern states have recognized an opportunity and are making their best pitches to frustrated Californians. So, is there a price Tulsa, Okla., could offer you to move? Are the incentives of cheaper gas, much shorter commutes and overall drive times enough of an appeal? I haven't even mentioned the cost of living and a real chance of buying a home. My colleague Hannah Fry spoke with Californians who moved to Tulsa for a variety of reasons. Here are a couple of their stories. Rollins felt socially isolated working a remote job in Ocean Beach for a tech company, but still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people around her. Months earlier she read about a program, Tulsa Remote, that would pay remote workers to relocate to Oklahoma's second-largest city for at least a year. She decided to give it a shot and visit. 'When I was [in California], I was so consumed with the process of day-to-day living — the traffic, getting places, scheduling things,' Rollins said. 'Here there's so much more space to think creatively about your life and to kind of set it up the way you want.' After five months in Tulsa, Rollins met her significant other at a trivia night. Her partner, with whom she now lives, made the journey from California to Tulsa for school during the pandemic. 'He grew up in Santa Cruz and was living 10 minutes from me down the road in Pacifica, but we never met in California,' she said. 'We met in Tulsa.' Tulsa Remote — funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation — started in 2019, and has sought to recruit new residents to diversify the city's workforce. It decided to offer $10,000 to remote workers who would move to the state for at least a year. The program also provides volunteer and socializing opportunities for new residents and grants them membership at a co-working space for 36 months. Tulsa Remote has attracted more than 3,600 remote workers since its inception. More than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program and 539 have made the move, cementing California as the second-most popular origin state behind Texas. Those numbers reflect something of a wider trend: From 2010 through 2023, about 9.2 million people moved from California to other states, while only 6.7 million people moved to California from other parts of the country, according to the American Community Survey. A Public Policy Institute of California survey conducted in 2023 found that 34% of Californians have seriously considered leaving the state because of high housing costs. The lower cost of living was a huge bonus for the Meinckes when they moved three years ago. They went from paying $2,400 in monthly rent on a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in L.A.'s Westside to a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Tulsa for just a few hundred dollars more. It ended up being fortuitous timing for the couple, who discovered they were expecting their first child — a daughter named Ruth — just weeks after they decided to move. The couple are expecting their second child in December. It's a life milestone that Meincke says may not have happened in Los Angeles. In California, it costs nearly $300,000 to raise a child to 18. In Oklahoma, researchers estimate it costs about $241,000, according to a LendingTree study this year. 'There was no way we were going to move into a house in Los Angeles unless we had roommates, and that's not an ideal situation,' Zach Meincke said. 'We were 37 when we left Los Angeles and it felt like we were at a point that if we wanted to have all those other things in life — children, a house — we need to make that shift.' For more on the moves, check out the full article here. Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage. Jim Rainey, staff writerAndrew J. Campa, reporterKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorKarim Doumar, head of newslettersDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience intern How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma
Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Tulsa Remote has attracted more than 3,600 remote workers since its inception in 2019. More than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program and 539 have made the move, cementing California as the second-most popular origin state behind Texas. More Californians have moved to Tulsa through the program than those hailing from other coastal states such as Florida and New programs have popped up in Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia and other states looking to reverse population decline. The programs, which are a boon to small and medium-sized towns in the middle of America, highlight a troubling, years-long trend of Californians uprooting their lives and relocating to less expensive locations. The transition to remote work following the pandemic has made leaving the Golden State even easier.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma. Did they find paradise?
Cynthia Rollins doesn't hate California — far from it. The sun-drenched shores of San Diego, the vibrant desert oasis of Palm Springs and the hustle of San Francisco all held special places in the California native's life story. But in 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — Rollins' typically serene Ocean Beach neighborhood became crowded with people desperate for an outdoor place to congregate. She couldn't leave her 650-square-foot apartment without worrying about finding a parking spot when she got home. She was isolated working a remote job for a tech company, but still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people around her. Tulsa, Okla., had never been on her radar. But months earlier she read about a program, Tulsa Remote, that pays remote workers to relocate to Oklahoma's second-largest city for at least a year. She decided to give it a shot and visit. By November 2020, Rollins was a full-time resident in the Sooner State. Tulsa Remote has attracted more than 3,600 remote workers since its inception in 2019. More than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program and 539 have made the move, cementing California as the second-most popular origin state behind Texas. More Californians have moved to Tulsa through the program than those hailing from other coastal states such as Florida and New York. Similar programs have popped up in Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia and other states looking to reverse population decline. The programs, which are a boon to small and medium-sized towns in the middle of America, highlight a troubling, years-long trend of Californians uprooting their lives and relocating to less expensive locations. The transition to remote work following the pandemic has made leaving the Golden State even easier. From 2010 through 2023, about 9.2 million people moved from California to other states, while only 6.7 million people moved to California from other parts of the country, according to the American Community Survey. A Public Policy Institute of California survey conducted in 2023 found that 34% of Californians have seriously considered leaving the state because of high housing costs. Politics might also play a role for some who decide to leave with conservatives more likely to contemplate leaving than liberals. Republicans make up more than 52% of registered voters in Oklahoma compared with roughly 25% of California's registered voters. 'I definitely had people ask me what's in Tulsa?' Rollins said. 'And I was like, 'I have no idea. Who knows what's in Tulsa? But I'm going to find out'.' Unsurprisingly, it's less expensive to live in Tulsa than it is in a major metropolitan area in California. The lower cost of living was a huge bonus for Zach Meincke and his wife, Katie, when they decided to make the move three years ago. They went from a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment for $2,400 on L.A.'s Westside to a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house for just a few hundred dollars more. It ended up being fortuitous timing for the couple, who discovered they were expecting their first child — a daughter named Ruth — just weeks after they decided to move. 'When we were first considering Tulsa, I was Googling the city trying to figure out if it was a great place to live and there was this blurb that came up right at the top that said Tulsa is a cool place to live. If you're young, you might live here for a while and you might get a little bored. But if you're a parent, this is the perfect place to raise your kid,' he said. 'And that couldn't have been a more true answer.' Meincke used to spend his days running along the beach but now his time is focused on taking Ruth, who is almost 3 years old, to explore Tulsa's parks and the Discovery Lab, an interactive kids' science museum. The couple are expecting their second child in December. It's a life milestone that Meincke admits may not have happened in Los Angeles. In California, it costs nearly $300,000 to raise a child to 18. In Oklahoma, researchers estimate it costs about $241,000, according to a LendingTree study this year. 'There was no way we were going to move into a house in Los Angeles unless we had roommates, and that's not an ideal situation,' he said. 'We were 37 when we left Los Angeles and it felt like we were at a point that if we wanted to have all those other things in life — children, a house — we need to make that shift.' While remote work brought Rollins and Meincke to Tulsa, they've both since launched their own businesses. Meincke started a creative strategy and storytelling firm and works with companies across the country and Rollins opened a consulting business. 'When I was [in California], I was so consumed with the process of day-to-day living — the traffic, getting places, scheduling things,' Rollins said. 'Here there's so much more space to think creatively about your life and to kind of set it up the way you want.' Business leaders and local officials had struggled for years to come up with a way to keep college-educated workers in America's heartland. A 'brain drain' plagued the state for the better part of the 2010s as the educated workforce migrated to larger, coastal cities for higher-paying jobs. Rather than focusing solely on keeping Oklahoma natives rooted in the state, Tulsa Remote — funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation — sought to recruit new residents to diversify the city's workforce, which was largely reliant on the oil and gas industry. They ended up creating one of the largest relocation incentive programs in the country offering $10,000 for remote workers to move to the state for at least a year. The program also provides volunteer and socializing opportunities for new residents and grants them membership at a co-working space for 36 months. 'We really were looking to attract knowledge workers to the city of Tulsa, which we knew would help create an economy that was resilient for the future and prepared for what's ahead,' said Justin Harlan, managing director of Tulsa Remote. 'It was also this desire to really put Tulsa on the map for people, and if it's the $10,000 that gets folks' attention that's OK with us.' Applicants must be at least 18 years old, be authorized to work in the United States, have full-time remote employment outside of Oklahoma, have the ability to relocate within 12 months and have lived outside the state for a full year before applying. And the program isn't just looking for people who see Tulsa as a stop on their way to somewhere else. They want applicants who want to build a life in the city, Harlan said. As of 2024, 96% of Tulsa Remote members stayed longer than a year and 70% have remained in the city since 2019. The program has proven to be beneficial for Tulsans too. For every $1 spent attracting remote workers, the program returns more than $4 to Tulsans through local spending, job creation and increased tax revenue, according to a recent economic report from the Upjohn Institute. 'The George Kaiser Family Foundation has really taken the mantle of place making and more what I think my line of work considers nontraditional economic development,' said Andrew Ralston, who previously worked at the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce. 'The answer is never just recruit businesses and grow businesses locally. It's always to do the work to make sure people want to live here, to make sure people are being recruited to bring a new population and new tax base in and that, I think, was the principle behind it.' For Rollins, she can finally answer the overarching question that people asked her before she moved: What's in Tulsa? For her, it's fewer logistical challenges, a chance to build community, get involved and, ultimately, find love. After five months in Tulsa, Rollins met her significant other at a trivia night set up by mutual friends. Her partner, whom she now lives with, made the journey from California to Tulsa for school during the pandemic. 'He grew up in Santa Cruz and was living 10 minutes from me down the road in Pacifica, but we never met in California,' she said. 'We met in Tulsa.'
