Monday 13 June 2022 08:22 PM Thousands flock to Mexico escaping crippling cost of living under Biden and ... trends now
Thousands of Californians are fleeing to Mexico amid soaring costs of living in the golden state.
Americans taking advantage of work from home are reaping the benefits of US salaries, while living large off of Mexico’s cheap lifestyle.
Others are living in Mexico, while commuting to work in the US.
But critics have argued that the influx of Americans in cities south of the border has begun to price out local Mexicans.
It comes amid a wider exodus of Californians to other states across the US, including Texas, Washington, and Arizona.
Many feel forced out by rocketing inflation in the golden state that has gas, grocery, and living costs soaring under Governor Gavin Newsom.
Thousands of Californians are fleeing to Mexico amid soaring costs of living in the golden state
California's population declined again in 2021 for the second consecutive year
'I would say at least half are coming down from California,' Darrell Graham of Baja123 Real Estate Group told CNBC while speaking about the real estate trends he has seen.
'Suddenly the cost of taxes, the crime rates, the politics, all the things that people are unhappy with in California are are coming down to Mexico.
Travis Grossi, a content creator who moved to Mexico in 2020, paid $1,600 a month for a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood, while in Mexico his rent became $850 per-month for two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a shared pool, and 24-hours a day security.
'We were able to cut our budget in half, which allowed us to really focus on our careers and the things we wanted to do artistically without havening to just hustle, and hustle, and hustle, every day, every week to just meet the bare minimum,' Travis Grossi, told CNBC.
Monthly rent in Mexico can average as little as $430 per month, while rents can average as high as $1,500 north of the border in San Diego.
Travis Grossi (right) moved to Mexico in 2020. His rent declined by almost half when he moved, but his apartment space more than doubled
The population of California continues to shrink, as residents flee the state's high cost of living and rising crime.
California's population declined again in 2021 for the second consecutive year, state officials said in May, the result of a slowdown in births and immigration coupled with an increase in deaths and people leaving the state.
Critics point to the steady stream of people leaving California as an indictment on the state's policies, which are set by Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the state legislature.
About 280,000 more people left California for other states than moved here in 2021, continuing a decades-long trend.
With an estimated 39,185,605 residents at the end of the year, California is still the most populous US state, putting it far ahead of second-place Texas and its 29.5 million residents.
But after years of strong growth brought California tantalizingly close to the 40 million milestone, the state's population is now roughly back to where it was in 2016 after declining by 117,552 people this year.
Ariel Ruiz Soto, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy institute, told CNBC that former Californians in Mexico are pricing out local Mexican citizens
Californian migrations to Mexico come amid a wider exodus to other states across the US, including Texas, Washington, and Arizona
Though the life is good for California ex-pats living in Mexico, the trend has begun a process of gentrification that is pricing out local Mexican citizens who aren't paid in US dollars.
'Certain neighborhoods are now becoming too expensive for Mexican citizens to live in because most of the time people that are actually buying the property developments are being able to do so because they either make money in US dollars, or because they are working remotely,' said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy institute.
Exactly how many Californians have relocated to Mexico have not been documented, but as of 2019 it was estimated that at least 1.2million Americans lived in the country.
New data show that annual inflation in the US rose to 8.6% last month. The report led Biden to concede that inflation remains a problem in the US
The trend comes as average cost of a gallon of gasoline in the US has risen to $5.014 as grocery costs saw the highest surge in a year since 1979.
Gas prices are up $1.94 from this time last year, spiking 50 cents in the last month alone, according to the AAA Gas Price Index.
The national average passed the $5 mark for the first time in history over the weekend, and President Biden deflected blame for soaring prices to Russia once again.
Meanwhile the cost of groceries rose 11.9 per cent from this time last year, the sharpest increase the country has seen since Jimmy Carter was president.
The Labor Department's report on Friday showed the consumer price index jumped one percent in May from the prior month, for a 12-month increase of 8.6 percent - topping the recent peak seen in March.
The new figures released on Friday suggested the Federal Reserve could continue with its rapid interest rate hikes to combat what has been coined 'Bidenflation,' and
