In-N-Out CEO: Out of California

Owner latest top executive to leave the state: ‘It’s tough here’

By Tom Ozimek 
Contributing Writer 

As In-N-Out Burger prepares to open restaurants and a corporate office in Tennessee, owner and CEO Lynsi Snyder says she and her family will relocate from California. 

In a message posted on social media on Tuesday, Snyder said California is a “tough” place to live and do business in, though she clarified that the company’s corporate headquarters would not be moving out of the state, nor would any In-N-Out restaurants be shut down. 

“In addition to our Baldwin Park office, we’re expanding with an eastern territory office in Tennessee to support our growth,” she said. “We’re not leaving California or leaving our roots behind. Each one of our locations is here to stay.” 

Snyder’s move to Tennessee makes her the latest business leader to exit California, a state prized for its climate but burdened by steep taxes, heavy regulation, and high living costs. Other prominent businesspeople to leave the state include Elon Musk, who not only made Texas his new home but also moved Tesla’s headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin. Musk feuded with local authorities in California in 2020 over pandemic shutdown orders and also complained that high housing costs were hampering Tesla’s ability to expand in the Bay Area around San Francisco. 

Other companies besides Tesla that have left California include Charles Schwab and Chevron, both citing high taxes, regulatory hurdles, and steep operating costs. But it’s not just businesses and corporate leaders — ordinary Californians are also leaving the state in growing numbers. According to Chapman University economics professor James Doti, who has studied migration trends in California, the exodus started around 15 years ago. 

“It has been gradually increasing,” Doti said in 2023. 

He said at the time that many Californians were following their employers out of the state, driven by high taxes, strict environmental rules, and an unfriendly business climate. 

“Job formation outside of the state is greater,” he said. “[People are] going to areas where they could get a higher-paying job, and that’s happening because businesses are leaving the state — and that’s a negative.” 

In her departure message, Snyder focused on California’s high cost of living — especially its soaring house prices. She said that In-N-Out’s expansion into Tennessee provides employees “wonderful opportunities to buy a home and raise a family.” 

“This is part of a healthy plan for our growth, and also there are so many opportunities for people to own homes in Tennessee and even some of the surrounding states that we could possibly end up in,” she said. “It’s tough here in California, and this doesn’t have to do with my love or loyalty to the state and our customer — but I love our associates and I would love to offer them this, just like we’ve offered other states that provide different things to them — you know, the dream of a home and a family is more feasible there, for sure.” 

According to the Tax Foundation’s 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index, the contrast is stark: Tennessee ranks eighth nationwide, while California sits near the bottom, at 48th. Tennessee levies no personal income tax and collects about $4,200 in state and local taxes per capita, less than half of California’s $9,200. California’s top income tax rate reaches 13.3%, alongside higher corporate, gas and cigarette taxes. Tennessee also carries less state debt and maintains better-funded public pensions, factors that help make it more attractive to companies and executives looking to relocate. 

Last week, in an appearance on the “Relatable” podcast, hosted by conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, Snyder said that there are many “great things” about California, but that raising a family and doing business in the state is “not easy.” 

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