An Oklahoma relocation program paid Californians $10,000 to move to the state, and some say they have never looked back, according to a Los Angeles Times report last month.
The paper spoke with former California residents Cynthia Rollins and Zach Meincke about their decision to leave the state through the Tulsa Remote program.
Both said they were initially uncertain but have since grown to love their new home.
“When I was [in California], I was so consumed with the process of day-to-day living — the traffic, getting places, scheduling things,” Rollins said. “Here there’s so much more space to think creatively about your life and to kind of set it up the way you want.”
Meincke, who moved himself and his wife to Tulsa three years ago, told the Los Angeles Times he was motivated not only by affordability but by the chance to raise a family.
“There was no way we were going to move into a house in Los Angeles unless we had roommates, and that’s not an ideal situation,” Meincke said. “We were 37 when we left Los Angeles, and it felt like we were at a point that if we wanted to have all those other things in life — children, a house — we need to make that shift.
“When we were first considering Tulsa, I was Googling the city trying to figure out if it was a great place to live, and there was this blurb that came up right at the top that said Tulsa is a cool place to live. If you’re young, you might live here for a while, and you might get a little bored. But if you’re a parent, this is the perfect place to raise your kid. And that couldn’t have been a more true answer.”
Launched in 2019, the Tulsa Remote program offers remote workers a $10,000 grant to move to the city for at least one year.
The Los Angeles Times reported more than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program, with 539 relocating to Tulsa.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age, work full-time remotely outside Oklahoma, be able to move within 12 months and have lived outside the state for at least a year before applying.
Tulsa Remote’s website says 76% of participants who completed their first year have stayed in the city.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Tulsa Remote spokesperson said the program has welcomed more than 3,700 remote workers to the city.
“While we’re proud of the program’s ability to attract applicants from every state across the country, what stands out most are the common themes in their applications: people want a true sense of community, affordable housing, access to great restaurants and culture and beautiful parks for their kids. We’re grateful to have helped so many build the lives they envisioned and to have created a program that has delivered so much for Tulsans,” the spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the city of Tulsa for comment.
California has repeatedly ranked among the top states for outbound migration, according to US Census Bureau data and moving company surveys, with many citing high living costs and liberal policies.
