Cities in Northern California saw more severe drops in population during the pandemic than those in Southern California, new census data show, with Bay Area communities hit particularly hard.
The same data show that many of the cities that grew the most between July 2020 and July 2022 were in Southern California.
Experts said that several factors might explain the north-south divide. But one likely reason is the Bay Area's tech-rich economy. Many tech companies allowed employees to work from home and it is likely that "remote work has impacted the Bay Area more," leading to an exodus of workers in Northern California, said Dowell Myers, a professor of policy, planning and demography at USC.
