How does California compare to other states? 

Unemployment

California represents the fourth-largest economy in the world and its 39.2 million residents give it the largest population in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was 5.5 % as of December 2024, up from 4.3% in February 2023. The unemployment rate was 3.8% in October 2019 before the onset of the pandemic and 8.5% in February 2021. Total non-farm employment grew by 1% and government employment grew 2.2% between December 2023 and December 2024. Employment grew in most sectors over that period, with notable exceptions such as Manufacturing (-3.4%) and Information (-2.1%). The sector that saw the biggest increase in employment is Education & Health Services (+4.1%). Government employment grew by 2.2% while Construction employment fell 1.3%.

Poverty

California’s poverty rate was 12.3% in 2024, making it the 22nd-highest in the country under the traditional poverty measure according to World Population Review. Louisiana had the highest rate of 19.6%, followed by Mississippi (19.4%) and New Mexico (18.4%). New Hampshire had the lowest of 7.2%. In January 2024, the US Census Bureau reported that the national poverty rate was 11.5% — this means that 37.9 million people in the US live in poverty. For perspective, more Californians live in poverty than the combined population of the state’s four largest cities: Los Angeles (3.8 million), San Diego (1.3 million), San Jose (969,655) and San Francisco (808,988).

Due largely to the high cost of housing, California has a higher poverty rate under the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which takes cost of living into account. California’s SPM rate was 15.4% in 2023, which is the highest in the nation, compared to the national average of 12.9%. The U.S. SPM rate increased by 0.5% from 2022 to 2023. Louisiana has the second-highest SPM rate at 14.3%, followed by the District of Columbia at 14.1%. Maine has the lowest SPM rate of 5.9%. California's SPM rate has been gradually improving, as it is down from 17.2% over the three-average from 2017 to 2019.

Comparison of Tax Rate by Type

• has among the highest income tax rates for upper-income households and one of the lowest income tax rates for lower-income households. In 2021, the top 1% of income taxpayers in California accounted for 50% of income tax revenue.
• California's state tax revenue was $220 billion in 2023, compared to $1.4 trillion in the U.S. as a whole. Revenue fell by 3.5% in the U.S. and by 22% in California from 2022 to 2023.
• The states that saw larger gains were Wyoming (37.1%) and New Mexico (17.1%), while the states with the largest losses were Colorado (-17.9%) and Idaho (-4.2%).
• Sales tax revenue is expected to account for approximately 16% ($35.1 billion) of General Fund revenues in 2025-26, down from nearly 19% in 2022-23.
• California has the 8th-highest corporation tax rate (flat tax of 8.84%) and corporation tax revenue is projected to account for 17.3% ($37.7 billion) of General Fund revenues in 2025-26.
• California has below-average property tax rates, but higher property values. Californians paid $5,65 9 per capita in property taxes in 2024 and the property tax rate was 0.74%. The highest property tax collections per capita are in New Jersey ($12,690) and the lowest are in Alabama ($905). The national average was $3,910 in 2024, representing an overall rate of 1.1%.
• California collects revenue much differently than other states. In many states, property taxes represent a greater proportion of revenues than income taxes. The situation in California is reversed due to Proposition 13, which limits property tax rates, and its highly progressive income tax structure.

California spends more total dollars for public services than other states largely due to its large population, so per-person (or "per capita") comparisons are the most useful. As of 2023, California ranked 16th in spending per capita with $10,556. Alaska spent the most with $21,458 and Texas spent the least with $4,462. The U.S. average was $8,569.