650,000 folks left California in 2019. Who came to Idaho (and who went there from here)

OK, Idaho. You know you have mixed emotions about all the Californians moving to the Gem State — some warm feelings, some, uh, not.

Now some new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, analyzed by The Orange County Register, sheds fresh light on people moving from the giant Golden State, population 39.5 million, to the little Gem State, population 1.8 million — and, believe it or not, moving the other way.

And if it feels like migrants from California are having an outsize influence on Idaho, that’s because they are, in a couple of ways. Read on.

Last year 653,551 Californians relocated to other states. Texas drew the most transplants, while Nevada and Idaho had the largest share of their populations being 2019 newcomers from California.

Annual state-to-state migration estimates reveal that Californians, when they move, like to stay in the West. And while no state lost more residents to other states than California did, its 2019 departures equaled only 1.7% of its largest-in-the-nation population. Only two states, Michigan and Texas, had smaller shares of their populations move elsewhere.

Here’s what the interstate migration data for 2019 show about the ins and outs of California population:

Big moves: Texas drew 82,235 Golden Staters. Next was Arizona at 59,713; then Nevada at 47,322; Washington at 46,791; and Oregon at 37,927. Idaho ranked 11th, with 17,772.

Hot spots: Now consider these interstate moves vs. the varied size of state populations. Nevada is where you’d most likely run into a 2019 California transplant. Its cross-border relocations equaled 1,552 per 100,000 Nevadans. Idaho was second at 1,004, Oregon third at 908.

Who’s arriving?

California drew 480,204 newbies from other states last year. Only two states — Florida and Texas — took in more. But California’s inflow was down 4.2% in a year to a low not seen since 2011.

Incoming wave: California drew the most from New York in 2019 with 37,567 relocations. Next was Texas at 37,063; Washington at 31,882; Arizona at 28,226; and Nevada at 26,433.

Idaho contributed 4,372. That was 248 people per 100,000 Idahoans — the 12th-largest per-capita exodus to California among the 50 states.

Per capita: Nevada was the state most likely to lose a resident to the Golden State — with those relocations equal to 867 for every 100,000 residents. Next was Hawaii at 858; Alaska at 701; Washington, D.C. at 441; and the state of Washington at 424.

Dropoff: In a year that saw California’s fewest newcomers since 2011, arrivals from Oregon dropped by 6,785 — the biggest dip. Washington was next at 6,125 lower.

Upswing: The Golden State’s No. 1 arrival gain was from Virginia, up 6,781 transplants. Next was Nevada at 4,000 higher, then Alaska at 2,909 higher.

‘Net’ results: Where Idaho is king

More outs than ins add up to what demographers call a “net domestic migration loss” of 173,347 for California. That gap did fall 8.8% during the year. Only New York had more exits than arrivals in 2019.

Top taker: What states contributed the most to that outsized migration chasm? Texas was No. 1 with 45,172 more Californians arriving than departures; then Arizona at 31,487; Nevada at 20,889; Oregon at 20,662; and Washington at 14,909. Idaho was 7th with 13,350.

Top giver: On the flip side, California fared best against New York with 13,235 more arrivals than exits. Next was Illinois, a “net” take of 9,393 residents; Virginia at 7,512; Massachusetts at 4,728; and Minnesota at 2,719.

Top taker per unit of population: In net migration — arrivals from California minus departures to the Golden State — Idaho beat every other state, netting 757 new Californians per 100,000 Idahoans. Nevada was second with 685.

PS: Despite the net loss of residents to other states, California’s population is boosted by newcomers from other nations — 261,818 last year, the largest foreign inflow among the states.

Even considering the state’s large population, California’s foreign newcomers — legal or not — equaled 0.7% of the population, the 12th highest share nationally. Still, this immigration was down 7.7% from 2018.

Idaho Statesman Business Editor David Staats contributed.

This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 4:00 AM.