1. Paradise Valley, Arizona:
  • Dubbed the "Beverly Hills of Arizona," experiencing an increase in wealthy Californian residents.
  1. Reasons for Migration:
  • Movers are attracted by the promise of privacy, luxurious lifestyle, lower taxes, and overall quality of life.
  1. Origin of New Residents:
  • Influx includes individuals from various Californian cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Ken Sawyer didn't have plans to leave California at first. He and his wife, both involved in venture capital, lived in San Francisco and had a second home in Napa. However, after their Napa home was destroyed in the 2017 wildfires, they chose not to rebuild and instead opted for a home in Colorado.

"After being there and realizing some of the dynamics and quality of life and the benefits that were there, we decided maybe we didn’t need to be in California," Sawyer told Business Insider.

In 2019, after considering about five cities to move to, Sawyer and his wife decided on Paradise Valley, Arizona, and haven't looked back since. They haven't lived in San Francisco since then.

Sawyer is part of a trend of Californians trading Silicon Valley for Paradise Valley. Census county-to-county migration data shows that Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, has been losing more residents to Arizona recently.

From 2011 to 2015, Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous county, received an average of 1,127 residents from Santa Clara County each year. From 2016 to 2020, that average increased nearly 38% to 1,555.

Paradise Valley, known as the “Beverly Hills of Arizona,” is situated in the desert hills between Phoenix and Scottsdale in Maricopa County. In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that millionaires from across the country were drawn to the affluent suburb.

Joan Levinson, a luxury real estate agent in Arizona who helped Sawyer find his home, highlighted the privacy and spacious lots in Paradise Valley, along with its proximity to city amenities like shopping, restaurants, and nightlife. It also offers natural beauty, less traffic compared to more populated parts of California, and lower taxes.

The community has a history of attracting celebrities like Muhammad Ali and Stevie Nicks, as well as billionaires like Bennett Dorrance, the Campbell Soup heir worth an estimated $3.1 billion, and Bruce Halle, the founder of Discount Tire, who passed away in 2018.