I would far rather live in California than Kansas. There are a lot of systemic issues in California, but especially in Southern California, there are far more people that would like to live there than actually do.
FWIW There are also some very nice places in Kansas that are doing well. It has been poorly managed IMO but it isn't bad in some of the nicer areas. I have looked into it quite a bit and may move to Kansas away from Chicago.
You won't be doing it for the topography. Once you move "inland" from the Missouri River, you just might run into the descendants of Dances with Wolves and Stands with a Fist.
WTF? You haven't been to California at all, have you? Stop watching Faux News.....or InfoWars for that matter.
The reason California is so damn expensive is because too many people want to live there, if no one wants to live there, it would be as cheap as Kansas. If you are not in the tech sector, you really should not be living in Southern California if you want to live decently. Don't worry, I think with global warming, mid west might turn into nice living spaces while west coast might turn into stoves.
I have been there and I find it has nice weather and terrible economics. There is a reason people and companies are fleeing Cali. I get my news from actual economic reports and professional trade organizations regarding economic sectors like housing, mortgages, jobs, and other industries. It is largely just too expensive because it was nice and everyone flooded it, including illegals, but largely a lot of Americans too seeking the life style and weather. The place peaked and it definitely not what it used to be. You go try and live there and then compare your life to what you could have in Texas. Your house size will double/triple. Or hell, you can afford rent. There are places in Cali heavily in a rent crisis because the state is NIMBY owned and operated and no one builds dense housing for the growing numbers. Therefore everyone's housing is expensive. They are already talking rent controls AGAIN. Which will only just treat a symptom... temporarily. The state thrives off emotional issues and voting for garbage policy instead of sound economics.
https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/39822123 California has the 6th highest gdp growth rate in the country in 2019. California also has the 5th highest gdp per capita if you are going to goal post your argument to "it's because they have a lot of people". You also made a comment that there is a mass Exodus in Cali when they have the 17th largest population growth rate in 2019. Obviously not impressive but "mass Exodus" would imply they would be at the bottom.
It's funny how people think we're getting California's best transplants. We're getting their low skilled, low educated work force while they are importing the best educated, highest skilled workers in the country. We are literally the last hope for a middle class lifestyle for ditch diggers, contraction workers and truck drivers. I've seen it. They talk to their cousins who tell them they can sell their run down shanty for 500K and buy a McMansion here in Texas. That's the simple economics.
Yup it's a unfortunate part of Cali and is a legitimate concern. The high price is forcing lower middle class unskilled laborers out of the state. The state has no problem attracting high skill labor. From all the high level science and engineering research that occurs in all their public research in Cal Tech, Stanford, UC Berkeley to places like NASA JPL to all the high tech companies from Google to SpaceX, Cali has no issue attracting high skilled laborers. In fact they probably are the best state in the union at siphoning high skilled labor from lesser states like Kansas. You graduate from University of Kansas engineering, you probably are desiring to find employment in Cali rather than Kansas.
California has net out migration, and has since at least 1990 apparently. Seems like the net migration has shrink to near-zero since a high in 2005. Given California's steady population growth seemingly unperturbed by migration patterns, I'm not sure it matters. It's harder to find a quick reference for Kansas, but here's one:
