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- A boomer recently moved to San Diego Country from a suburb of Minneapolis.
- He said he's "never moving back to Minnesota" due to California's weather, convenience, and nature.
- He lives in a more expensive senior facility, but it has much nicer amenities than in Minnesota.
Brian Dalton, 72, spent most of his life in Minnesota, aside from three years in North Carolina with the Army and a short stint in Arizona.
For four decades, he worked as a laboratory manager and bartender in Minneapolis. A part of him always wanted to live in California to escape the freezing winters and move to the coast. He got the chance to temporarily move to California after his retirement to help his son start a business, and after spending a few months there, he knew he had to move permanently.
"I wanted to get out of the winters here, the cold, the slipping on the ice," Dalton told Business Insider. "It was expensive, but I finally made the move in July of last year."
He pays a lot more for his apartment, but there are many more amenities and the weather is ideal. He spends his time hiking with his dogs, watching sports games, relaxing in the sun, and helping his son with his business.
Dalton is one of the few thousand former Minnesota residents who moved to California last year. US Census migration data released last October for 2021 to 2022 reveals 5,143 people moved from Minnesota to California during that window. About 6,900 people moved to Minnesota from California during the time period.
Nearly 131,000 people moved out of Minnesota between 2021 and 2022, while 117,000 moved in. Meanwhile, in California, almost 818,000 left, while 475,800 moved in. Some movers to California from states including Tennessee and Florida told Business Insider that the state's weather, business and health resources, and infrastructure attracted them.
Moving to the Golden State
Dalton started a family in Minnesota shortly after his service in the Army. He worked as a manager for over three decades at a laboratory for injection molding, making parts for hearing aids and related equipment. For 28 years, he also bartended at an entertainment venue in the city, where he worked until moving to California.
When he was looking to retire, he remembered a moment from his teenage years. At 17, he drove his $100 car to California with no credit card and a desire to see plenty of concerts. He lived with his siblings in the Los Angeles area during the summer and recalled the mystique of the state.
For the last 12 years, Dalton visited his kids in San Diego and wanted to join them on the West Coast, though he thought the state would be too expensive. But eventually, he bit the bullet and moved to California.
"I've had this feeling of being drawn to California since I was a kid, the mountains, the different flowers, the trees," Dalton said. "It's a beautiful place, and I really like it here. I've always talked about moving here, I finally did it, and I'm really glad I did."
He settled on a senior complex in Escondido, a city in San Diego County, for $1,700 a month, which cost him between $500 and $600 more a month than his previous apartment in Hopkins, a smaller city in Minnesota southwest of Minneapolis. He sold many of his belongings, quit his job, loaded his pickup truck, said goodbye to his lifelong friends, and "got out of there," he said.
"I made the decision to start really being proactive with trying to find a place, and when I was here a couple of years ago on vacation, I found it online," Dalton said, adding that he was blown away by how modern the facility was when he toured.
'Never moving back to Minnesota'
Compared to his place in Minnesota, he said his California facility is taken care of much better with more full-time staff and maintenance people. He also said it has all the amenities he wants and feels more secure than his Minnesota place.
The weather was one of the greatest appeals for Dalton, given that San Diego county has coasts, deserts, and mountains. He lives further inland near an interstate, meaning he can easily get to the beach, though it's sunny almost every day in his area.
"It wouldn't be my choice if I won the lottery, but I didn't, now especially since I'm not working and on a fixed income of Social Security and retirement benefits," Dalton said.
He also rarely uses the heat in his apartment, as temperatures in the winter stay around 60 degrees during the day and 40s at night. He often goes hiking on trails nearby and tries to attend sports games throughout the year.
"I throw on a sweatshirt in the morning to walk the dogs, but other than that, I'm usually wearing a t-shirt with shorts and sandals all the time," Dalton said. "I'm in pretty good shape, and I still don't like the idea of slipping and falling and breaking a hip, which was one of the main reasons I moved from Minnesota."
He said gas is considerably more expensive in California — $4.54 a gallon compared to $2.93 a gallon in Minnesota — though he saves some money by getting his gas at a local Costco. Traffic is often intense, especially when he drives on the freeways to help his son with his business, though he usually stays close to home most days. He said he doesn't need to drive as far, given that grocery stores, the gym, and large retailers are all within three blocks of him.
The cost of groceries is about the same between Minnesota and California, he's noticed. He doesn't eat out much, though he said restaurant prices are also about equivalent between the two states.
The people he's met so far in California are friendly and talkative, though he misses all his friends still in Minneapolis. He said he often stays out of political discussions and doesn't notice much political change between the two states.
"I'm never moving back to Minnesota for sure," Dalton said. "I probably would stay in San Diego County, though I'm not sure I'll stay in this particular place. But it's about the cheapest I've seen for what I get here, so there's a good chance I'll be staying here for a while."
Have you recently moved to a new state? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.