Migrants from California to Other States, 1995 to 2000

James P. Allen, California State University, Northridge
Eugene Turner, California State University, Northridge

We use Census 2000 files to study the destinations and characteristics of people who lived in California in 1995 but were living in other states in 2000. Data from the county-to-county migration file showed that Californians comprised the largest portion of residents in those Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona counties closest to California, where they represented between six and eighteen percent of all residents in 2000. The PUMS file permits comparison of White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic out-migrants to people who remained in California and to residents of destination states in both 1995 and 2000. In the percent in the retirement ages, percent returning to their state of birth, percent college graduates, and percent employed in leading industries there was much variation by ethnic group and by the leading destination states, suggesting the need for caution in generalizing about characteristics of out-migrants.