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david nixon He didn’t move to California for the beaches or the burritos. He moved because, in his words, Florida stopped paying attention.
“I felt like education, health care, all the things that matter to me and that equalize society, were not being paid attention to (in Florida),” Nixon told Fortune magazine. .
Nixon, a former health care executive and member of the Patriotic Millionaires, packed his bags in 2022 and headed to Pasadena, California, where, he says, those stocks still get the funding and attention they deserve. “I still think California does a better job on the things that matter.”
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Nixon isn’t talking about political vibes or tax benefits. He’s talking about infrastructure. In his view, two critical systems, education and health care, are not only underfunded in Florida. They are neglected. While the state may have sunshine and no income tax, he believes the long-term cost comes from what is left behind.
And the numbers back up at least some of what he says.
California currently spends about $18,020 per public school student each year. Florida? Around $12,415. Even with the lowest cost, WalletHub’s 2025 rankings place Florida at 21st in K-12 quality, while California lags behind at 30th.
But Nixon doesn’t focus on test scores. It is focused on what that money represents: priorities. And when it comes to total investment in education, California committed more than $133 billion in K-12 funding for the 2024-25 cycle alone, more than the entire annual budget of many states.
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In higher education, the contrast is starker. US News & World Report ranks Florida No. 1 in higher education statewide thanks to low tuition, high graduation rates and minimal student debt.
But California has bragging rights when it comes to prestige. Three of the best public universities in the country (UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego) are located in the Golden State. Only Berkeley holds the public number one spot on Forbes’ 2025 list.
In the same Fortune interview, Nixon criticized tech billionaires like the co-founders of Google. Sergey Brin and Larry’s Page for fleeing California’s tax policies, calling its measures “disgusting and greedy.” He argues that California’s public systems (education, health care, innovation) created the same wealth those billionaires are now trying to protect by leaving.
Health care, for Nixon, is the second pillar of the measure. While both Florida and California face affordability challenges, California generally ranks higher in access and quality on national scorecards.
A national West Health-Gallup poll found that 47% of Americans are worried they won’t be able to afford health care in the next year, reflecting widespread fear that transcends state lines. These concerns aren’t limited to the uninsured or unemployed: They affect middle-class families, retirees, and even people with solid business plans who are squeezed by rising premiums, surprise bills, or shrinking networks.
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Nixon may have chosen California because he believes the state is doing better on access to health care, but he’s not the only one sounding the alarm. Across the country, many Americans feel that the system, regardless of ZIP code, is broken. And when health care becomes a stressor rather than a safety net, it’s not just a matter of policy. It’s personal.
Of course, not everyone shares Nixon’s approach. Many wealthy people are moving in the opposite direction: abandoning California for Florida to escape income taxes and estate levies. But for Nixon, the trade-off isn’t worth it.
The state-level fight over taxes, education and health care is not new. But Nixon’s move gives it a sharper edge. He did not simply vote with a ballot. He voted with a U-Haul.
Not everyone has the means (or the desire) to reposition themselves in public policy. But Nixon’s move taps into a broader trend: People are reevaluating not only where they live, but also why they live there. For those who want exposure to thriving real estate markets like California’s without buying a million-dollar bungalow or uprooting their lives, platforms like Arrived offer a lower-risk entry point. With as little as $100, anyone can buy fractional shares of rental properties in cities they believe in, even if they don’t live there or love the local tax code.
In other words: You don’t have to move to Pasadena to earn rental income in Pasadena.
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This article Millionaire who left Florida because ‘no attention was paid to education, health care…’ says California ‘does a better job’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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