In-N-Out company president Lynsi Snyder explains decision to leave California for Tennessee

No trip to California, it seems, is complete without a stop at one of the West Coast’s most beloved fast-food establishments, but it now appears that the leadership behind those bountiful burgers has decided to abandon the Golden State once and for all.

As Fox Business reports, Lynsi Snyder, the president of the In-N-Out burger chain, recently revealed that she and her family are departing California and putting down roots in Tennessee.

“Not easy”

The billionaire fast-food heiress indicated that one of the main reasons she is heading east to the Volunteer State is that it has simply become too challenging to raise a family in California.

Despite having spent many formative years in Northern California before moving to the southern part of the state, Snyder is now ready to take herself, her husband, and their four children to a new locale.

She elaborated on the situation during a recent appearance on the Relatable podcast with host Allie Beth Stuckey, noting that the business itself will also be expanding as part of the move.

“We’re building an office in Franklin [Tennessee], so I’m actually moving out there.

Snyder continued, “There’s a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here. Doing business is not easy here now,” an observation driven home by the fact that violent crime forced the closure of one of the company’s longstanding locations in Oakland last year.

Legacy continues, adapts

Snyder, 43, is the granddaughter of the husband-and-wife duo responsible for launching the business in 1948.

At the time of its beginning, In-N-Out was the first drive-thru hamburger restaurant in California, and it has since maintained a reputation for high-quality, always-fresh food.

Wholly family-owned and long resistant to the concept of franchising, In-N-Out maintains a large presence in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho, but that geographic niche now appears poised for expansion.

The first location in Tennessee is set for opening next year, with Snyder stating, “It will be wonderful having an office out there, growing out there, and being able to have the family and other people’s families out there.”

Challenging landscape persists

Snyder is far from the only business executive who has made the decision to shift focus, at least in part, away from California due to the growing hostility of the business climate there.

A study from the Hoover Institution examined the specific conditions that make doing business in California so daunting for so many, mentioning onerous tax policies, regulatory policies, labor costs, energy and utility costs, and broader quality of life concerns as key drivers of the exodus.

With current liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom prevented by statute from running for another term in 2026, perhaps Californians will seize the opportunity to reverse the self-destructive course on which the state appears to be traveling and begin creating conditions that will not only retain, but also attract the sort of winning business for which Snyder’s family is famous.