For thousands of Californians, the dream of living in the Bay Area is colliding with a harsh financial reality: they love their communities but worry they can no longer afford to remain there.
Almost half of San Francisco Bay Area residents say they may leave within the next few years, even as many maintain strong emotional ties to the places they call home.
A survey of 1,801 adults found that 46 percent were considering moving away, an increase from 43 percent in the previous year.
The results underscore the mounting strain in one of the nation’s wealthiest regions, where Silicon Valley technology companies, multimillion-dollar homes and high-income households coexist with a severe affordability crisis.
Despite the Bay Area’s enormous wealth, many ordinary families are finding it difficult to manage daily bills, build retirement savings or afford a first home.
The 2026 Silicon Valley Poll was conducted by Embold Research on behalf of Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Bay Area News Group.
At the same time, 75 percent of respondents said they felt a sense of belonging in their communities, while 77 percent said people like them were welcomed and accepted.
That connection remained strong even among potential departures: 66 percent of residents who said they were likely to move still felt they belonged where they lived.
The share weighing a move has climbed from 43 percent last year, though it remains below the 56 percent recorded in 2021.
Nearly half of San Francisco Bay Area residents say they may leave within the next few years, despite their strong ties to local communities (pictured: San Francisco, California, and the Bay Bridge)
The poll found that 75 percent of respondents felt they belonged in their communities, while 77 percent said people like them were welcomed and accepted (pictured: downtown Oakland, California)
Russell Hancock, president and chief executive of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, says housing costs and the broader cost of living are at the heart of the problem
Russell Hancock, president and chief executive of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, said the affordability crisis ultimately came down to housing and the region’s high cost of living.
‘What they’re concerned about is our inability to solve our basic problem, which is housing – housing and the high cost of living here,’ he told the Bay Area News Group.
‘That’s what’s driving people out.’
According to the survey, 95 percent of residents viewed housing and affordability as serious concerns. Nearly four in five also said the Bay Area was becoming a place where only wealthy people could prosper.
More than half said creating a good life in the region now required more than simply working hard.
For some, moving away would mean abandoning a community and a home connected to their families for generations.
David Collins, a 53-year-old electrician and fifth-generation Californian, loves the area’s natural beauty. But he worries that remaining there will prevent him from retiring with financial security.
He told the Bay Area News Group that he had worked seven days a week to save enough money for a house, yet buying a home still appeared beyond his reach.
‘I’d love to stay,’ he said. ‘I worked seven days a week trying to save money to buy a house, and it just kept being unattainable. How am I going to retire?’
Nearly four in five respondents said the Bay Area was becoming a place where only wealthy people could thrive. (pictured: Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California)
Renters appear particularly vulnerable to the squeeze, with 51 percent saying they were likely to leave, compared with 39 percent of homeowners
Collins, who has spent his career working on homes and technology campuses, now lives in a one-bedroom apartment, with a renter sleeping in the living room.
He is considering moving out of state or even overseas, potentially to the Netherlands, where he has relatives.
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‘I don’t want to give up on California,’ he said. ‘Believe me.’
Renters appear particularly vulnerable to the squeeze, with 51 percent saying they were likely to leave, compared with 39 percent of homeowners.
Among people who could not consistently cover their expenses and put money aside, 52 percent were considering a move, compared with 41 percent of those who could.
Gina Bidinger, 59, is another resident weighing up whether to leave the state where she has spent her life.
She shares a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Alameda with her 24-year-old daughter and 76-year-old mother, paying $2,600 a month in rent.
After losing her job as a business manager at an auto dealership, she has begun looking more seriously at cheaper places to live.
In Virginia, she found a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a washer and dryer for $900 a month, while a house with a swimming pool in Las Vegas caught her attention at $400,000. She also spotted a six-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Texas for just $300,000.
‘It’s a little hard to make that decision to move out of California, because this is really all I’ve ever known,’ she said.
Her children, grandchildren and mother are among the reasons she is reluctant to leave, illustrating the personal cost of moving in search of a more affordable life.
The affordability crisis is particularly stark in San Francisco, where rents have climbed sharply as demand for housing remains intense.
A separate report from rental platform Zumper ranked the city 43rd out of 44 major rental markets for renter negotiating power, giving it an F grade.
Its June figures showed the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment had jumped 21.9 percent in a year to $4,060 – the steepest annual increase among the markets studied.
Zumper said the return of technology-sector hiring, including demand associated with the artificial intelligence boom, had helped drive renewed competition for apartments.
The latest figures underline how even a well-paid job may not guarantee an easy route to homeownership in one of the country’s most expensive housing markets.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, explained that housing costs were often the biggest item in a family’s budget.
The home of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is seen from above in San Francisco, California on Monday, February 26, 2024. (Josh Edelson for DailyMail.com)
Moving somewhere cheaper, she said, could create meaningful breathing room when household finances were stretched.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also declared a ‘rent emergency’ and proposed measures to combat evictions as the city grapples with mounting housing pressures.
The financial squeeze has sparked a wider debate among Bay Area residents about what it takes to get by in the region.
In a Reddit discussion titled ‘Why is so hard / expensive to live in bay area even with a ‘good’ salary,’ one user earning around $200,000 a year said they still struggled to save much money.
The poster described paying around $3,400 a month for a small one-bedroom apartment and utilities, spending about $2,000 a month on food for two people, and sending $1,500 to help family.
The thread quickly divided commenters, with some arguing that the Bay Area’s housing market made financial progress increasingly difficult, while others questioned whether the poster’s spending could be cut.
One commenter argued that earning $200,000 should allow someone to live comfortably, even if buying property remained a distant prospect.
Another wrote that they could manage on a $120,000 salary while paying market-rate rent.
The discussion reflects a broader tension in the region: whether the biggest obstacle is the sheer cost of housing or the difficulty of balancing everyday spending with the dream of owning a home.
