Californians seek new start — in Oklahoma

Tulsa is luring remote workers with low costs. And hard cash.

- By Hannah Fry

SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS For The Times

THE PROGRAM Tulsa Remote offers remote workers $10,000 to move to Oklahoma for at least a year.

Cynthia Rollins doesn’t hate California — far from it.

The sun-drenched shores of San Diego, the vibrant desert oasis of Palm Springs and the hustle of San Francisco all held special places in the California native's life story.

But in 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — Rollins’ typically serene Ocean Beach neighborhood became crowded with people desperate for an outdoor place to congregate.

She couldn’t leave her 650-square-foot apartment without worrying about finding a parking spot when she got home. She was isolated working a remote job for a tech company, but still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people around her.

Tulsa, Okla., had never been on her radar. But months earlier she read about a program, Tulsa Remote, that pays remote workers to relocate to Oklahoma’s second-largest city for at least a year. She decided to give it a shot and visit. By November 2020, Rollins was a full-time resident in the Sooner State.

Tulsa Remote has attracted more than 3,600 remote workers since its inception in 2019. More than 7,800 Californians have applied to the program and 539 have made the move, cementing California as the second-most popular origin state behind Texas. More Californians have moved to Tulsa through the program than those hailing from other coastal states such as Florida and New York.

Similar programs have popped up in Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia and other states looking to reverse population decline.