Adam Carolla says Los Angeles went from a city no one left to a place residents flee for ‘anywhere’ else
Comedian Adam Carolla Says Los Angeles Residents Are Now Moving Out in Record Numbers
Los Angeles, CA — On the Tuesday episode of the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, comedian Adam Carolla warned that the city’s population habits have shifted dramatically. “No one ever left LA,” Carolla told listeners, noting that the city was once a place where people rarely left. He explained, “You would only leave LA if somebody’s dad’s company’s headquarters moved for some reason or another, or you moved to Hawaii and you were just retiring.”
Carolla said the picture has changed: “Now, people leave LA, and you go, ‘Where are you going?’ And they go, ‘Anywhere.’” He added that many departures now come “out of necessity,” rather than a planned move or a retirement. “Because the reason is not ‘our company is relocating,’ or ‘I’m retiring, and I’m moving to Hawaii.’ It’s ‘I’ve just got to get out of here.’”
The comedian highlighted what he sees as a broader decline in Los Angeles and California. “That’s a bad sign,” he said, citing rising costs, high taxes, a worsening homelessness crisis, and recent wildfires as factors driving people to leave. Carolla has repeatedly criticized California’s Democratic leadership, naming Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In previous remarks, he has described the state’s challenges as “the broader decline.”
Carolla also reflected on how unusual it was in the past for a Los Angeles resident to consider moving away. “When you’re from LA, back in the day, if somebody said, ‘We’re moving to Tennessee.’” He laughed that he didn’t even know where Tennessee was at the time. “I would say, ‘What are you doing over there?’”
In addition to his commentary about the city, Carolla revealed personal plans to leave California once his children finish high school. “I’ve talked about leaving the state, and I plan to make the move after my kids graduate,” he said.
Carolla’s remarks arrive amid a broader trend of residents relocating from high‑tax, high‑cost urban centers across the country. While some cite job relocation or retirement as reasons for leaving, the comedian’s focus is on the everyday pressures that now push many Los Angeles residents to seek new homes elsewhere.