Millennials most likely to move out of the Bay Area: UC study

A new poll from UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies found that more than half the voters it surveyed are considering moving and some people are looking at moving out of state.

The survey found that the group most likely to relocate are the millennials.

The Bay Area is touted for its beauty, mild weather , and proximity to the great outdoors.
 
"California is in my DNA...the lifestyle," says Russell Conway, "I love to snowboard. I love to surf. I love to bike."
 
The 23-year-old is currently living with a relative in San Mateo and commutes to work in San Francisco. What Conway doesn't love is the high cost of housing.

The poll found that registered voters in California consider housing affordability an "extremely serious problem."
It's a view that is most prevalent in the Bay Area where 65 percent of registered voters share that opinion.

"Moving out of state. Some people are moving to LA, maybe back again with their families ," says Wendy Willbanks, a real estate agent who started shemovesyou.com, a rental and relocation service.

She says one third of her clients are tech workers in their 20's and 30's and that most of them can only afford to pay about $1,600 a month for housing, a far cry from what it costs for even a studio in the city, roughly $3,000 dollars a month.

"A lot of folks are room-mating up. We're seeing a ton of living rooms turn into fourth bedrooms so people are doing what they can to afford it," says Willbanks.

"The problem is I can't save anything because half my income is my rent," says Sofie Wise, a tech worker.
She says she and two roommates pay $4,200 a month for a two-bedroom. One of them sleeps in the living room.
 
"We all have a side hustle which I know is a millennial thing," says Wise who works part-time as a receptionist at a yoga studio.

Jeanne Snyder, a San Francisco renter in her 40's, says she works for a nonprofit and rents a studio with her partner. The New Jersey native says she lives paycheck to paycheck.
  
"Pricing is ridiculous, just the cost of food. Everything even compared to L.A. because we lived there for a while. Everything is more expensive here," says Snyder," We know that if our rent goes up , we'll have to move away. There won't be any other options."
 
Everyone who spoke with KTVU says housing affordability is a huge problem. Many say they don't want to relocate but have to consider the possibility.