Fewer people have moved to Los Angeles since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the number of Californians leaving to other states has gone up — according to a new study by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab.

The study found that the number of people moving to California dropped by 38% at the end of September 2021 compared to the end of March 2020. 58,803 people left Los Angeles in 2021, a 12.3% change year over year. And only 24,882 people moved in — a decline of 39.5% from 2020. "California loses more than twice as many people to domestic migration as it did before the pandemic," researchers stated.

Jessica Melhado, former Executive Director of Westwood Kehillah, and her husband Rabbi Raif Melhado moved to Los Angeles a little over six years ago for a job opportunity. When that job was done, Raif found another job at DeToledo High School. They hadn't had any family or other ties really bringing them to the West Coast, except for a brother who lived in Northern California.

Jessica said there were a lot of nice things about Los Angeles, including the weather, access to good kosher food, and good Jewish schools — but the cost of living was high and the cost of real estate was prohibitive for their family. Getting scholarships for Jewish schools, which assumed a higher level of wealth, was also difficult. During the pandemic, being away from most of their family became harder. They ended up in Atlanta, much closer to family.

Shterny Plotkin and her family lived in Los Angeles for close to nineteen years. She moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to be with her husband, Levi, who had a business in LA. She had always hoped to move back to the East Coast though. For a long time it looked like it would be New York, but Levi did not want to move there. Florida was his idea. Shterny loved the community in Los Angeles and found the nightlife and the broader Jewish community a real draw — but in the end the family chose Florida.

For others, the things that made Los Angeles hard to leave — the weather, the food, the schools, the close-knit neighborhood communities — outweigh the climbing cost of real estate. Whether you're staying or moving, the practical question is the same: how do you make the math work?

Have a question about this article or how it applies to your situation? Get in touch with the team.