The smart people who have been “struggling to pay the bills” have wised up and moved out. I was born and raised in SD and still love it and miss it all the time. However, I will never move back due to cost of living and taxes in CA. I have friend after friend from CA moving away and each one talking about how they were living paycheck to paycheck on a 6-figure income and now have paid off all debt and live in a home twice the size of where they were living in CA.
If CA is such a financial, mess who is buying the homes of the escapees?