A desert city near the Arizona-California border has become a magnet for fleeing Californians hoping to escape the high cost of living and liberal politics.
Lake Havasu City sits across the Colorado River from the high-priced, high-crime Golden State, and it’s becoming a hot spot for Californians to move to, with 5,358 moving there in 2023.
The area, known for being the home of the rebuilt London Bridge, has the highest ratio in the Grand Canyon State of Californians to Arizonans with roughly two-to-one making the city home, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Lake Havasu City had also been a popular spot for vacation homes and those looking for a great place to run around in a bikini during spring break, but since the pandemic, many Californians have decided to set up shop permanently.
Amber Whitehead was one of them.
‘The cost of living in California is just getting ridiculous, so we decided it was time to sell,’ she told the Los Angeles Times. They sold their home in Tuolumne County in 2024 after spending a year splitting their time between Arizona and the Golden State.
Lake Havasu City first gained notoriety in 1968 when inventor Robert McCulloch Sr – who also moved to the city from California – had the decommissioned London Bridge brought across the Atlantic and rebuilt brick by brick.
McCulloch was driven to find a way to entice people to Lake Havasu, so when the City of London put up the bridge for sale he bought it for $2.4million, the city said.
Lake Havasu City first gained notoriety in 1968 when inventor Robert McCulloch Sr had the decommissioned London Bridge (pictured in Arizona) brought across the Atlantic and rebuilt
He purchased the bridge (pictured in London) for $2.4million as a way to put Lake Havasu City on the map
The replacement London Bridge in England as it now stands (Pictured in 2023)
London Bridge is frequently confused by tourists in the UK with its more impressive neighbor Tower Bridge. It’s commonly said that the inventor believed he was buying Tower Bridge at the time of the transaction. His family and the town dispute this, suggesting it is an urban myth.
Now, the popularity of the town has Whitehead trying to keep her fellow Californians out of the loop about how great it is, so no more move there, despite admitting the majority of the people she meets in town once hailed from the West Coast state.
And for people like Whitehead and her boyfriend, the price was right.
The average home in California sells for around $761,000, according to Zillow estimates. In Lake Havasu City, it’s a mere $435,000 – or roughly 55 percent lower.
Californians’ interest in the desert beach town has also driven up property value, but it still nowhere near the West Coast prices.
In 2019, there were 10 homes that were valued at more than $1million on the market at any given time. That has since gone up to more than 100, Realtor Kristina Horton, who moved to the city in 2004, told the Los Angeles Times.
Despite being the exodus location for Californians, many of Horton’s customers said they don’t want the city of 60,000 to become the next Golden State.
‘Even though many of them were from there,’ she told the outlet. ‘Their view seemed to change as they moved over.’
Pictured: An illustration of the old London Bridge before the Great Fire of 1666
Lake Havasu City sits across the Colorado River from California and many Californians are fleeing to the desert city
The area has the highest ratio in the Grand Canyon State of Californians to Arizonans with roughly two-to-one
Amber Whitehead said she moved to the city after the cost of living got too high in California
London Bridge is frequently confused by tourists with its more impressive neighbor Tower Bridge. It’s commonly said that the inventor believed he was buying Tower Bridge at the time of the transaction. His family and the town dispute this, suggesting it is an urban myth
California and New York have suffered the most with people permanently leaving. Between March 2024 and March 2025, 15,568 people left the Golden State and 6,099 left the Empire State, according to Consumer Affairs data.
The third and fourth largest exoduses were in New Jersey and Massachusetts, but it only saw half the amount of movement as New York with 2,710 and 2,621 people, respectively.
Arizona was in the top 10 states people are migrating to, as well as Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, among others.
Housing has become a top reason for movers in California, and many in the Gavin-run state and New York are being primarily pulled to the South and Midwest from the affordability aspect as many are being priced out of the liberal havens.
California is the worst state for renters and is also home to four out of the five worst cities for first-time homebuyers, Consumer Affairs said.
Arizona has seen a population growth of 5.4 percent between 2020 and 2024, according to The Times. It also added 6.7 percent in housing stock in the same time frame.
