Huge housing costs are stressing out California

"Roughly 1-in-5 California households have housing expenses gobbling up more than half of their incomes. My trusty spreadsheet identified numerous affordability challenges by analyzing 2024 Census Bureau housing data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These latest figures detail swings in who's renting and who owns, how much they pay a month, which households are financially swamped by housing expenses, and how many folks can squeeze into a home."

"Last year, California had 2.8 million households in all kinds of living arrangements where housing expenses exceeded 50% of their income. That's the largest burdened flock among the states and 14% of the 19.4 million nationwide. California's economic rivals ranked next: Texas and Florida, at 1.7 million. Such cash-strapped households equal 20% of all Californians, the biggest share nationally and well above the 15% U.S. share."

"We don't spend enough time discussing the financial burden of renters, who make up 56% of California's home-cost-burdened population. Remember, California is the nation's largest rental market with 6.1 million tenant households. Sadly, California is also tops for suffocating rental costs, with 1.6 million extremely burdened households in 2024. No. 2 for 50%-plus-burdens was Texas at 998,000. Florida was No. 4 at 856,200."

California had 2.8 million households in 2024 spending more than half their income on housing, the largest such total among states and 14% of the national 19.4 million. Twenty percent of California households face this extreme burden versus 15% nationally. Texas and Florida followed with 1.7 million each and lower shares. Renters comprise 56% of California's cost-burdened population; California has 6.1 million renter households and 1.6 million renters spending over 50% of income. Twenty-seven percent of California renters face this stress, slightly above the 24% U.S. renter share and behind Florida and Nevada.

Read at www.ocregister.com