I don't understand, though, how $10K can be the deciding factor for someone for such a major decision.
A $10k cash infusion solves all or a lot of that in most cases.
Many of these people had already considered leaving or walking away.
The bay area is a very transient place of economic migrants, abruptly leaving isn't a major decision for a large population there, just as marginally inconvenient as any move.
Also we are talking about less than 500 applications so far. (1000 applicants, half from california, “many from bay area), bay area is 8 million people.
Hope that provides perspective.
Then people want to leave!
Many people “in tech” or the eligible remote-possible population had many of their transplant friends disperse immediately back in March with a continual slow drain of more people leaving.
Tulsa is a No from me dawg, but I understand how people are hopping on the incentive without much deliberation!
So the highest earners eclipse the tax revenue from the lowest that have less lucrative prospects and it is a win.
Incidentally, there's a similar program for NW Arkansas, which looks to be a nicer area than Tulsa: https://findingnwa.com/incentive/
That already doesn't meet the eligibility criteria
[0] I've moved cross states a few times into and out of 2bd apartments; for a self pack move you can easily expect to pay about $6-10k, depending on distance, housing arrangements, and truck configuration (single truck is cheaper than a transfer to a semi-truck).
[1] Minimum down payment on a house is typically 3.5% with good credit. $10K is enough of a down payment for a ~$300k home, minus closing costs.
The $10K is basically "moving expenses". The program's other factors represent a serious effort to address the non-economic concerns with such a large decision.