Wealthy Californians are flocking to Las Vegas, attracted by lower home prices, less crime and no income taxes in Nevada, new home search data shows.
According to real estate brokerage Redfin, Vegas was the second most popular place in the US to move to this summer. The majority of people came from Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
Southern California and Nevada have similar climate and culture, but Nevada benefits from lower taxes and a lower cost of living.
Celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and Dean Cain have moved to Vegas from California in the past year, selling their expensive homes in exchange for more space and security for their families.
Homebuyers are also moving to Vegas from other major cities, including Seattle, New York, Chicago and Washington DC.
Homebuyers are looking to move to Las Vegas from major US cities
The lion's share of people looking to move to Las Vegas are from Los Angeles
Thousands of Californians have left the Golden State to escape rampant homelessness and the high cost of living
Redfin's research is based on the search data of two million home buyers.
Only Sacramento beat Vegas as the most popular place to move – with its affordable housing attracting wealthy families from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Las Vegas benefits from relatively low home prices: the average home is $412,000, less than half the price of Los Angeles, which is $999,000.
According to Redfin, more than 4,800 people wanted to move to Las Vegas from Los Angeles this summer.
And earlier this year, DailyMail.com revealed that nearly 17,000 people have surrendered their California driver's licenses to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
Homebuyers are not only attracted by lower home prices and taxes, but are also fleeing California's strict regulations and high crime rates.
Alexis Michaud, a real estate agent for Vegas-based brokers the Mullin Group, told DailyMail.com, “California's mansion tax has frustrated many Californians.
“That, combined with their income tax rate, has attracted so many Californians to Nevada, a tax-free, business-friendly environment.”
A record 2,000 luxury homes were sold in southern Nevada last year for an average price of $1.8 million, according to a Nevada State Bank report.
Dean Cain moved from Southern California to Nevada last year and praised the tranquility and lower cost of living
Mark Wahlberg left Los Angeles for Las Vegas in 2022, saying he wanted to give his children a 'better life'
Superman actor Cain moved to Vegas last year, telling The Messenger: “I had to leave California.
“California has gone crazy, in a way. There has been so much. Look at the taxes. Look at the regulations.
“Look at the foolish laws that have been passed. There were things I didn't agree with, and I've voted here, lived here, and worked here all my life. Finally I got to a point where I thought, I don't agree with this.'
Unlike Democratic-run California, Republican-run Nevada has no personal income tax.
Cain said, “It is a great saving. So much of it made sense. I'm so happy. It is so much easier to travel from Las Vegas than from LAX. It's unbelievable. It's the quietest place I've ever slept in my life.
“When I got here and saw the traffic, I thought, 'What is this strange substance?' I think it's not fun anymore.' I don't concern myself with that at all. It is awesome.'
He added on Fox News: “I love California. It is the most beautiful state. Everything is great about it except the policies.
'The policy is just terrible. The budget policy, the soft policy on crime, the homelessness policy.'
The luxury real estate market in Las Vegas is experiencing a resurgence as wealthy Californians trade their homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean for views of the mountainous Mojave Desert. Pictured is a home in Vegas' prestigious Summerlin neighborhood that sold this month for $5.25 million
A rival to Summerlin, Henderson is a prestigious city southeast of the Las Vegas strip, but still part of the Vegas metro area. Pictured is a home in Henderson that sold this month for $6.7 million
As a result of the wealthy crowds flocking to Vegas, the luxury real estate market has boomed.
Last year, a record 2,000 luxury homes were sold in southern Nevada for an average price of $1.8 million, according to a Nevada State Bank report.
Actor Mark Wahlberg also made the move across state lines in 2022, telling The Talk that he did so to give his four children a “better life.”
He said: 'I want to be able to work from home. I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting, and I only made a few films the entire time I was there.
“So to be able to give my children a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it's my daughter as a rider, my son as a basketball player, my youngest son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense to us.”
He reportedly sold his first Vegas home in September a year after buying it for $16.6 million, but told People magazine, “We just moved from one house to another… We moved to a temporary place and now we have moved to another place.'
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reno area has seen 25,000 new residents, according to reports, and is expected to be one of the fastest growing cities in the coming years.
Homebuyers want to leave expensive, crime-ridden big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco
California residents and businesses began moving to Nevada's northern region in 2014 when Tesla began building a battery pack factory outside Reno.
The Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center has become the world's largest industrial center, spanning 166 square miles.
The most popular place to move to before Vegas is Sacramento – a much more affordable part of California than San Francisco and Los Angeles, making it perfect for people who want a cheaper place to live but don't want to leave the state.
The typical home in Sacramento sells for $575,000, according to Redfin, nearly a million dollars less than the typical home in San Francisco ($1,480,000).
With a 7 percent mortgage rate, the monthly payment for the average-priced home in Sacramento is $3,889, compared to $10,010 in San Francisco.
In the past few months, nearly a dozen prominent places have packed up and called it quits, while local leaders continue to take a somewhat lax approach to crime.
Other headlines include the phrases “garbage city,” “ruined city” and “fallen city” as crippling drug problems and widespread homelessness problems continue to cause problems for San Francisco.
Alison Williams, a Redfin Premier agent in Sacramento, said, “Most of them are moving not necessarily because they can't afford the Bay Area, but because they want a bigger house and a better quality of life.
'They are looking for luxury homes with spacious gardens where they can raise a family.'
The majority of people move to Sacramento from San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
It's an easy way for families to get out of San Francisco's crime-ridden areas.
Crimes such as robberies and murders are on the rise in the city, which is on the verge of losing $200 million a year in revenue as a business exodus has driven major hotels and retailers to flee the city center.