In summary Californians have a unique combination of high living costs, high poverty rates and large amounts of debt, factors that will likely influence debates over the state’s budget deficit. Forbes magazine rates California as having the nation’s third-highest living costs behind Hawaii and Massachusetts, with $53,171 a year in average household spending for housing, health care, taxes, food and transportation. Gavin Newsom and a Democratic Legislature, the state’s poverty rate would climb by more than eight percentage points. There’s another aspect to California’s high living costs and high poverty rates – high levels of debt that have gotten scant media and political attention. California’s unique combination of high living costs, high poverty and high debt makes the state something of a personal finance experiment.

Source: Forbes February 01, 2024 08:53 UTC