Comparing The Richest Places in the Country to Live in to the Poorest
California is home to some of the richest people in the country. It is also home to some of the poorest. There is no cost of living in California. In California, it depends on where you live to figure out what it costs to live in California.
Housing in California
Housing in California
Housing in California is as varied as the state. If you own a home in San Francisco that you are looking at a cost of $1,304,888, but if you live in Sacramento the average home is $355,030. The largest part of most people’s budgets is their housing so the wide spectrum of costs in California makes it hard to figure out what it really costs to live there.
Most apartments in California rent for rates above the national average. The national average for an apartment is $1,175 with Los Angeles coming in at $1,752 and San Diego having an average rent of $2,030. Both places have rent more than $500 above the national average with San Diego’s being $855 higher.
Many of the major cities in California have more renters than homeowners. Over half and upwards of two-thirds of Los Angeles and San Francisco residents rent their homes whereas San Jose sees mostly homeowners.
If you are thinking of moving to California you should consider consulting a financial advisor and they can get your finances ready for you for wherever you plan to move to. They will help you figure out your longer-term financial goals and get you on the right track.
Paying for Utilities
Paying for utilities in California isn’t terrible. Residents of California use an average of 554kWh per month and pay around $18.31 cents/kWh. This results in a bill around $101.49 a month. The highest monthly average bill for utilities in the country is in Hawaii at $149.33 with the cheapest being New Mexico at $79.16. The U.S. average falls around $111.67.
Paying for Food
To live as a single person with no children in California, the MIT living wage calculator places the living wage at $30,392 before taxes with an annual food cost around $3,573 or around $11.8%. This calculator does not include anything that can be considered a luxury.
As with the rest of California, it depends on where you live that will determine what you will be paying in terms of food costs. A gallon of milk costs $2.91 and a dozen eggs $1.83 in Fresno, but if you are in Los Angeles those prices go up to $3.81 for milk and $3.24 for eggs. The national average for milk is $3.10 and a dozen eggs are $2.26.
Costs of Transportation
California is known for its traffic. It has beautiful highways to drive on, but they are often covered in cars. A gallon of gas in California costs around $4.09. This is a price taken as of May 2019 which makes this gas one of the most expensive in the country.
If you have a car and drive it in California than you carry one of the most expensive insurances in the country. In fact, California has the 6th highest car insurance in the country. The average premium runs $1,846 which is almost $400 more than the national average o f$1,457.
The cost of public transportation varies across the state. A monthly pass to take the bus in Los Angeles will run you $100 and a monthly pass in San Francisco it will cost you $78 or $94 if you want downtown San Francisco as well as to ride the BART.
California Taxes
California has some of the highest income taxes in the country with the top bracket being at 12.3% with residents at the bottom paying just 1%. If you make more than $1 million dollars that you have to pay an additional 1% surtax with your 12.3% making your total tax percentage come to 13.3%.
California has a sales tax rate of 7.25% with counties and cities and their own taxes on top of it as needed. Los Angeles has a sales tax rate of 9.5%.
What makes California stand out for the country is its unusually low property tax rates. They are, in fact, below average at 0.79%. The national average is 1.19%. This is all because California capped the annual increases when they passed Proposition 13. It also reduced property taxes by 50%.
Final Thoughts
Moving to California is not a hard thing to do and depending on the area you are moving to and what you are planning to do there, it can be quite a lucrative and cost-effective choice. There are also a lot of national treasures to enjoy between the Golden Gate Bridge and plenty of places to run, hike and surf. Just make sure you have your finances in order before you move here. You can find affordable places to live, but it can be a commute to get there.
Do your homework before you move. If you know where you are going to move to, make sure you know what the local housing costs are. There are also ways of finding out about community to work and the costs for gas, insurance, and passes that go with it.
Tips
- A financial advisor is a good person to visit before you move to California. They can help you balance your funds and get you moving forward financially before you actually get to the state. They will also help you plan the financial move by preparing you for what you will be paying in terms of fees and extra living charges.
- You may also choose to move at least some of your savings to one of the many local banks in the area. These banks will not only get you set up to live in the state, but they can also help prepare you for the financial shift that comes not only from moving to a new state but to a state where the costs of living are a lot higher than most of the country.
