California bucked a national trend of growing poverty as the state’s rebounding economy and a shrinking population made for a mild improvement in one tally of the financially stressed.
California had 5.14 million residents living with incomes below the poverty level during the three years ended in 2022 – down 18,000 in a year, according to the Census Bureau. Nationally, 32.2 million lived in poverty in the timeframe, up 777,000 over 12 months as high inflation pruned household budgets already thinned by diminished pandemic stimulus.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the bureau’s “supplemental poverty measure” which tracks how many Americans live on incomes below poverty thresholds. This calculation adjusts incomes for government assistance and reflects each state’s cost of living.
By this math, California had the most residents in poverty, followed by Texas at 3.3 million, Florida at 2.77 million, New York at 2.32 million and North Carolina at 1.1 million.
Poverty is a complex challenge with no easy answers. It’s no secret that California’s high cost of living stretches thin many households’ finances. Housing expenses are the key culprit. Plus, some of the state’s largest industries – hospitality, personal services and agriculture – don’t pay wages that make a California family budget more easily pencil out.
So how did California’s poverty dip when it rose across the nation? By state, Texas had the biggest poverty increase last year, up 308,000. Next was Florida at 211,000, then New Jersey at 83,000, Washington at 69,000 and Missouri at 59,000.
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California had a late yet robust recovery from the economic turmoil created by the coronavirus. For example, employers statewide added 945,000 jobs in 2022, the most of any state in the nation.
Plus, the state was slow to curtail economic aid that expired in many states last year. The pandemic era’s…
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