> Some California boosters comfort themselves by insisting the people leaving are mostly poor or old. But an analysis of IRS data from 2012 to 2019 indicates that 85 percent of those leaving are in their prime earning years of 25 to 64. In 2019, the largest share of net domestic migrants, 27 percent, was in the 35-44 age category, while 21 percent were aged 55-64. At the same time, the state is seeing a decline in the young, restless new arrivals who have traditionally driven California’s innovative and entrepreneurial economy. > In fact, Los Angeles between 2013 and 2017 ranked only behind New York City for the largest net loss of millennials, notes Brookings Many younger people now choose Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and Denver metros, as well as Riverside-San Bernardino, Sacramento and smaller interior metros in California. The days when California could depend on accruing brain power appear to be at an end. During the 2010s, California’s rate of college educated (BA and above) residents 25 and over rated 34th among the states, lagging the increase in the national rate and well behind such key competitors as Florida and Texas.