Forbes Ranked California One of the Worst States to Make a Living in - 2015 (Commerce: homes, neighborhood)

[Ralph78]

Originally Posted by incognitoe

CA is ranked 10th in median income.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ates_by_income

Look at the Median Household Income per year over time.

California 1990 $90,214

California 1997 $95,470

California 2014 $60,287


In the past 24 years the Median Household Income has declined by 33%

The peak Median household Income for California was reached in 1997

In the past 17 years the Median Household Income has declined by 37%

The States political climate and regulation burden has driven many industries and high paying jobs from the state.

California has approximately 12% of the total population of the USA

California has approximately 34% of the total welfare burden of the USA

Combine the above with the ever increasing taxes, totally stupid legislation, increasing crime rate, and it's no wonder that people with means are leaving California. I know we are when we retire next year, and I am a native Californian who never dreamed I would be looking forward to leaving the state.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Ralph78

Look at the Median Household Income per year over time.

California 1990 $90,214

California 1997 $95,470

California 2014 $60,287


In the past 24 years the Median Household Income has declined by 33%

The peak Median household Income for California was reached in 1997

In the past 17 years the Median Household Income has declined by 37%

The States political climate and regulation burden has driven many industries and high paying jobs from the state.

California has approximately 12% of the total population of the USA

California has approximately 34% of the total welfare burden of the USA

Combine the above with the ever increasing taxes, totally stupid legislation, increasing crime rate, and it's no wonder that people with means are leaving California. I know we are when we retire next year, and I am a native Californian who never dreamed I would be looking forward to leaving the state.

I was born and raised in CA and now the vast majority of the kids I went to school with in OC have moved out of State. I still love the State and Climate (Natural not political) but it is no longer enough for my wife who is also a native. It was great and now ... for those who have never lived here it is nice compared to some other places IF you can afford it.

As to businesses, I own 3 in CA and the largest one has shrunk to 1/3 of the number of employees we had in 2009 due to the problems businesses face in CA. We are expanding in another State that is more business friendly. We will keep R&D there as we have several good employees and do some shipping of product, but the balance of the work is or has moved out of CA for good. We sell product world wide so local sales are not an issue, though we have major customers in CA.

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I agree generally. It is a hard place to build a life, unless you bought your home before 2000, and are in a a high tech field. Other states over far better income to cost of living prospects for those starting out, or in less lucrative fields.

But if you did buy your home before 2000, and you are in a high tech field, then California is one of the best states to make a living in. So it's silly to make blanket statements.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by LoriBee62

Yes, cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles are very expensive. Though, contrary to popular belief, there are over 30 million people living in California who do NOT reside in those cities. So lets keep these threads in perspective.

Total population in the state: 38,000,000
Total population in San Francisco: 815,000

So when people talk about how California is unlivable because rent in San Francisco is so high, they are actually talking about slightly over 2% of the state.

It's not like you just leave San Francisco and it suddenly becomes affordable. Really only Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano are anything resembling affordable any longer, and they're a long way from the job centers which are more Peninsula/South Bay at this point than even San Francisco is. Having a two-hour commute to San Francisco doesn't make it a good place to make a living just because it's relatively affordable. The local economies outside Contra Costa which is developing suck. They're largely bedrooms for Alameda and San Francisco with people making those commutes as all they can afford is American Canyon or Vallejo.

I mean, you do have the Central Valley. Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield are affordable and have some economy while being really outside of commute distance to San Francisco although people still do it from Sacramento or Bakersfield to LA. It's not like everyone lives in SF Bay Area, LA, and SD but it is most of the state.

[crouching_tiger]

Originally Posted by expatCA

I was born and raised in CA and now the vast majority of the kids I went to school with in OC have moved out of State. I still love the State and Climate (Natural not political) but it is no longer enough for my wife who is also a native. It was great and now ... for those who have never lived here it is nice compared to some other places IF you can afford it.

As to businesses, I own 3 in CA and the largest one has shrunk to 1/3 of the number of employees we had in 2009 due to the problems businesses face in CA. We are expanding in another State that is more business friendly. We will keep R&D there as we have several good employees and do some shipping of product, but the balance of the work is or has moved out of CA for good. We sell product world wide so local sales are not an issue, though we have major customers in CA.

Who cares for every one disgruntled white person like you who leaves there are thousands of wealthy Chinese, Indians etc. who will eagerly take your place and open new businesses etc.

So no loss really.

[Mister 7]

Originally Posted by crouching_tiger

Who cares for every one disgruntled white person like you who leaves there are thousands of wealthy Chinese, Indians etc. who will eagerly take your place and open new businesses etc.

So no loss really.

WTF does race have to do with this?

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by AJT123

WTF does race have to do with this?

I was wondering the same thing.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by beb0p

Yes, it's the COL. It cost $3,200 to rent a one bedroom in San Francisco and $2,300 for the same in Oakland. For many people, that's more than half their pay check.

.

Seems really high for Oakland... I managed a lot of property in Oakland and never had any rental... even a 4 bedroom go for $2300

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I agree generally. It is a hard place to build a life, unless you bought your home before 2000, and are in a a high tech field. Other states over far better income to cost of living prospects for those starting out, or in less lucrative fields.

There were plenty of excellent buys as recent as 2012... problem was most were not buying... thus it was a buyer's market.

I tried to encourage people I know and their kids... it's funny how things work... when houses were going begging and people walking away... was a great time to be a buyer... right now it is a great time to be a seller.

[nslander]

Originally Posted by Ralph78

Look at the Median Household Income per year over time.

California 1990 $90,214

California 1997 $95,470

California 2014 $60,287

Your numbers are crap.