Pandemic-driven exodus from L.A. slows to a crawl, consumer confidence among Angelenos improves
While the rise of remote work and the pandemic’s outsized impact on the health and financial well-being of cities drove people out of urban areas and into cheaper, less densely populated regions, the 2023 USC Dornsife LABarometer survey finds that the pandemic-initiated exodus from Los Angeles County has come to a near standstill.
Just 3% of L.A. County residents plan to leave in the coming year, a dramatic 70% drop from 2020, when 10% said they planned to leave. That’s an “exodus rate” even lower than 2019, when 8% said they planned to leave the county. It’s a drop largely driven by renters, who are significantly less likely to leave than they were in 2020.
The researchers note that this change reflects a national decline in moving rates and may be associated with the economic challenges of moving. Still, the study finds Angelenos feel better about their neighborhoods and the economy.