Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma. Did they find paradise?

Los Angeles Times ^ | Aug. 15, 2025 3 AM PT | Hannah Fry

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Cynthia Rollins doesn’t hate California — far from it. The sun-drenched shores of San Diego, the vibrant desert oasis of Palm Springs and the hustle of San Francisco all held special places in the California native’s life story.

But in 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — Rollins’ typically serene Ocean Beach neighborhood became crowded with people desperate for an outdoor place to congregate. She couldn’t leave her 650-square-foot apartment without worrying about finding a parking spot when she got home. She was isolated working a remote job for a tech company, but still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people around her.

Tulsa, Okla., had never been on her radar. But months earlier she read about a program, Tulsa Remote, that pays remote workers to relocate to Oklahoma’s second-largest city for at least a year. She decided to give it a shot and visit. By November 2020, Rollins was a full-time resident in the Sooner State.

Tulsa Remote has attracted more than 3,600 remote workers since its inception in 2019. More than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program and 539 have made the move, cementing California as the second-most popular origin state behind Texas. More Californians have moved to Tulsa through the program than those hailing from other coastal states such as Florida and New York.

Similar programs have popped up in Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia and other states looking to reverse population decline. The programs, which are a boon to small and medium-sized towns in the middle of America, highlight a troubling, years-long trend of Californians uprooting their lives and relocating to less expensive locations. The transition to remote work following the pandemic has made leaving the Golden State even easier.

From 2010 through 2023, about 9.2 million people moved from California to other...

[Myrddin]

When I moved into Mira Mesa, the intersection of Parkdale and Mira Mesa Blvd was a 4 way stop. A two lane road continued west to intersect with I-805. Nothing but clear canyon with sage brush at that time. That was 1983. It is nothing like that now.

When I first returned to San Diego in 1969, most of Mira Mesa was dirt. The Scouts had a huge jamboree on the open fields. Part of the San Diego 200th anniversary.

[pfflier]

We moved to Mira Mesa the same year!!.. Camino Ruiz ended with a barricade and my work at Convair was about a 10 minute drive from home via MM Boulevard and Kearny Villa Road. We loved the Tio Leos next to the shopping center, walking distance from the house.

By the time we left, it was so congested that trip took 45 minutes and involved about 5 stop lights. And, if it rained, double the time.

[Myrddin]

Tio Leo's was a favorite eating spot. One of my students lived in Mira Mesa just east of the high school. He invited me for dinner at Tio's. That was prior to purchasing my house there. I remember the barricade at the end of Camino Ruiz.

Around 1990, I was sent to a training class in Anaheim. The drive home was brutal. Getting from the I-805 south turn to my house near Parkdale and MM Blvd took 2 1/2 hours. MM Blvd became the main E-W corridor between I-805 and I-15. Bumper to bumper for hours. The buildout of SR 56 between I-5 (Del Mar) and I-15 (Rancho Penasquitos) shifted most of that traffic away by the late 90s.

[pfflier]

Sadly, Tio Leo’s is down to one restaurant now, on Moreno at Napa. They’ve still maintained the same great food quality. My wife and I still manage to stop there every time we are in town.