For 20% of Californians, half or more of salary goes to housing - San Diego Union-Tribune

“How expensive is it?” It tracks measurements of California’s completely unaffordable housing market.

Angle: Housing consumes at least half of the paychecks of one-fifth of California households.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet examined the latest statistics from the Census Bureau, which tracks household spending in 2023, focusing on what government experts call “extreme burdens,” meaning people paying 50% or more of their income for housing.

Pinch

California is by far the nation’s largest housing market, so it’s not too surprising that homeownership accounts for most households spending half their income on housing (2.7 million, or 14% of the nation’s 19.3 million). Texas is next with 1.7 million, Florida with 1.6 million, New York with 1.5 million and Pennsylvania with 687,900.

What’s sad is the size of the 20% of the population that the Golden State represents. This is the largest slice among the states and is well above the 15% nationwide.

New York and Hawaii rank second for the share of households spending more than half on housing, at 19%. Florida and Nevada follow with 18%. Texas ranked 14th with 15%.

So where is it most difficult to find housing-stressed households? North Dakota and West Virginia were at 9%, South Dakota at 10%, and Iowa and Missouri at 11%.

pressure points

This metric is evidence that family financial situations are much worse for renters.

Yes, California has the most people paying 50 percent or more to their homeowners, at 1.63 million. This represents 15% of the US total; It is followed by Texas with 993,500, New York with 934,800, Florida with 843,500 and Pennsylvania with 373,100.

But perhaps surprisingly, California ranked only fourth for the share of renters paying half or more, at 28% versus 26% nationally.

Florida was at the top with 31 percent, followed by Louisiana with 30 percent and Nevada with 29 percent. Texas ranked 17th with 25%. Miscarriages? North Dakota is at 16%, followed by Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas at 19%.

Property owners with or without a mortgage cannot escape this high cost category. The pain is much less.

California again ranked No. 1, with 1.1 million homeowners struggling with housing costs that consume half or more of their income. That’s 13% of the country’s 8.4 million. In second place were Florida with 760,800, Texas with 685,700, New York with 537,500 and Illinois with 324,300.

Unfortunately, California had the highest ownership share in this financially distressed area, at 14% versus 10% nationally.

California was followed by Hawaii with 14%, New York and Florida with 13%, and New Jersey with 12%. Texas ranked 15th with 10%. Miscarriages? North Dakota 5%, West Virginia 6%, followed by Iowa, South Dakota and Indiana 7%.

Politically speaking

That season, so we sliced through these housing cost pressure points where states supported President Biden in the 2020 election.

In blue states, 16% of all households will spend 50% or more on housing in 2023, compared to 14% in red states.

As for renters, 26% in blue states spent 50% or more, compared to 25% in red states. As for owners, 11% in blue states spent more than half on housing, compared with 9% in red states.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected].