Millennials have had enough of the high cost of living around San Francisco.
A recent poll (pdf) by the Bay Area Council found 46% of 18- to 39-year-olds are ready to leave the region, citing punishing traffic and housing costs. For residents of all ages, the numbers are similar: 40% of those surveyed agreed they were likely to move out of the Bay Area in the next few years, a slight uptick over 2015, while 30% said they felt strongly about staying put. San Francisco and Silicon Valley have some of the highest housing costs in the world thanks to the booming technology sector.
The survey was conducted by EMC Research with 1,000 registered voters regarding the state of the Bay Area between Jan. – Feb 2017.
Respondents’ intention to leave the area showed a strong correlation with how much of their income was spent on housing, said the Bay Area Council. Two-thirds of those polled spent at least 30% of their income on housing and 13% said they were spending at least twice that. Those spending more were most likely to have plans to leave. Residents rank housing, traffic, poverty, and sprawl as the region’s most important problems.