Why Are Many California Business Owners Happy Moving To Nevada?

Many of my friends and neighbors talk about this all the time. Why are so many Californians moving to Nevada? In general, it’s because of the high personal tax rate in The Golden State. In fact, Nevada comes in second to Wyoming as the most tax-friendly state in the nation. That’s according to MoneyGeek.com. As a matter of fact, many California business owners are considering making Nevada their new home.

The mass exodus from The Golden State to The Silver State continues. As a matter of fact, about 5,000 folks moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in August 2023 alone. That’s according to an article by Patrick Blennerhassett, quoting Redfin.com on ReviewJournal.com. Not to mention all the people moving from northern California into the Reno area.

With that in mind, some of the Golden State’s tech millionaires and billionaires recently visited Summerlin. Apparently, they’re very interested in moving their businesses to Southern Nevada. Blennerhassett’s article points out that many have already made the move to the Silver State. In fact, those heavy hitters include Andrew Cherng of Panda Express, Teddy Liaw of NexRep, David Chao of the venture capital firm DCM, and Nan Wang of the Sleeper app and online site.

Besides our tax friendly status, many people report that they are leaving the Golden State due to the rampant homelessness in California’s major cities. Evidently, those high tax rates to pay for government programs to help the homeless have actually made the problem worse. Additionally, crime rates are on the rise in the Golden State, especially in the major cities.

Moreover, many ex-Californians blame the high cost of living, healthcare costs, and exorbitant housing prices. For example, the median price for a single family home in California is $794,300 according to Redfin. Here in Nevada, it’s $440,100. In fact, over 500,000 have left the Golden State since 2020. That’s according to an article by Itzel Luna on USAToday.com.

Time will tell us whether or not the influx of Californians in to Nevada will end up causing similar problems to what the Golden State is currently facing.

If you became one of America’s billionaires, where would you choose to live? Would you stay here in Las Vegas and live in a mansion? Would you buy a ranch up in northern Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana? Conversely, do you think you’d prefer to live in a big penthouse in a major city? Or instead, would you choose to live on the beach of a tropical paradise? It sure is fun to think about.

With these questions in mind, project management experts at TheDigitalProjectManager.com began a study to determine where the top 100 billionaires in America reside. First, they recorded the total populations for each state. Second, these experts analyzed data and found out which states are home to these highly successful people.

As you might expect, states with the largest populations are home to the most billionaires. For example, California is home to 21 of the top 100 rich list. Likewise, New York has 14 billionaires residing in that state. However, neither of these states top the list of most super rich people per 1 million residents. In this manner, they evened the playing field.

Before we review the states in America in which there are more billionaires per million residents, here are some interesting notes in the study. For instance, the state of Washington ranks 10^th for being home to super successful people. However, of the top 10 states in the rankings, the average worth of Washington’s billionaires is huge. I’m sure Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are the main reasons why the super-rich in Washington have an average net worth of over $94 billion dollars!

Of course, since we’re about to find out if Nevada ranks in the top seven in this study, we should tell you which states are ranked at the bottom of the list. Michigan, New Jersey, and Tennessee have the fewest billionaires per million in our country.

Now, without further ado, here are the top seven states that America’s billionaires love to call home.

"The Natural State" is home to .66 billionaires per 1 million people and ranks seventh in this survey. The average worth of these successful Americans is $57.3 billion dollars. According to Wikipedia.org, Arkansas is home to six Fortune 500 companies: Walmart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, Dillard's, Windstream, and Murphy USA.

Residents in "The Empire State" can also call Wall Street home. New York City is one of the economic capitals of the world. In fact, according to Wikipedia.org, if New York were an independent nation, it would rank as the 11th largest economy in the world. The New York City gross domestic product is by far the largest in the U.S.A., and ranks 9th among the nations of the world. In this particular survey, the state of New York ranks sixth with .69 billionaires per million people. Their net worth averages nearly $22 billion dollars.

This New England state ranks fifth in this survey with .73 billionaires per 1 million people. The billionaires in "The Granite State" average $7.6 billion dollars in net worth. Per Wikipedia.org, the average per capita income ranked fourth in the entire nation, including Washington, D.C. Interestingly, New Hampshire not only has no personal state income tax like Nevada, but it also has no general sales tax. Maybe that's why billionaires choose to reside there, even with their cold winters.

The residents of "The Sooner State" rank fourth in this survey with .76 billionaires per 1 million people. The average net worth of the Oklahoma billionaire is approximately $16.2 billion bucks. This state produces a great deal of natural gas, wheat, and aircraft. Oklahoma is also home to four Fortune 500 companies, including Love's Travel Stops and Hobby Lobby.

Believe it or not, Nevada ranks third in this survey with 1.29 billionaires per 1 million people. As one of the least populated states in the nation, it kind of makes sense. Plus, there sure is lots of money rolling through the casinos in "The Silver State." The average net worth of Nevada's richest people is close to $13 billion dollars. Where are the most successful Nevadans making their cash? Well, tourism and entertainment, of course. Plus, there's a great deal of mining and cattle ranching in our state.

Well, it's no mystery why America's richest people would want to reside in "The Paradise of the Pacific." The state of Hawaii ranks second in this survey with 2.06 billionaires per 1 million people. The rich residents of "The Aloha State" average a whopping $39.7 billion dollars of net worth. Lots of Americans would love to live in Hawaii, and maybe that's why the median home value there is the highest of all 50 states, including California. You almost have to be rich to live there.

Were you as shocked as I was that Wyoming ranks first in this survey. But, when I stopped to think about it, I figured since it is the least populated state in the nation, then a billionaire who doesn't want to be bothered could purchase a huge ranch and remain isolated. I didn't know this, but according to Wikipedia.org, nearly half of the land in Wyoming is owned by the federal government. That includes Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. "The Cowboy State" averages 3.47 billionaires per 1 million people, with an average net worth of $23.5 billion dollars.

Larry Martino is the long-time afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.

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