California ranks No. 2 for housing costs in U.S.

There’s only one place outside of California where you’ll spend more of your paychecks on housing.

My trusty spreadsheet calculated how much typical households spend on housing expenses by reviewing a cost study from WalletHub and homeownership levels from the Census Bureau.

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The math shows housing expenses eat up 44% of a typical California household budget. Only Hawaii at 53% was higher. No. 3 was New York at 42%, Massachusetts at 40% and Oregon at 37%. One big California rival, Florida, was No. 6 at 34%.

The national median was 26%. Iowans spend the smallest share on the roof over their heads at 19%, then Kansas at 20%, and West Virginia and Oklahoma at 21%. California’s other major economic competitor, Texas, was No. 34 at 24%.

How did we get there?

First, WalletHub says Californians who lives in their own place have the nation’s second-highest ownership costs, spending 46% of their incomes on the place they own.

Only Hawaii at 53% is higher. No. 3 is Oregon at 36%, then Nevada and Washington at 35%. Florida is 13th highest at 30%.

American homeowners spend 26% of their income on house costs. Iowa is the lowest at 19%, then West Virginia, Kansas, and Nebraska at 20%. Texas is 20th lowest at 23%.

Next, note that California tenants fare a tad better in WalletHub rent rankings, with the nation’s sixth-highest costs at 42% of their income going to the landlord. Topping the Golden State are New York at 55%, Hawaii at 53%, Massachusetts at 49%, Florida at 43%, and Maine at 42%.

Nationally, tenants typically put 28% toward rental expenses. Folks in Kansas and Iowa spend the least at 19%, followed by Wyoming at 20%. Texas is 17th lowest at at 25%.

And finally …

To meld owner and renter costs into an overall housing expense yardstick, we adjusted the aforementioned expenses using a state’s homeownership rate.

Again, ownership stats are not great for California. It ranked second-worst with an average 55% of residents living in a home they owned in 2022-24.

Only New York was worse at 53%. After California came Hawaii at 60% and Nevada at 61%. Texas was seventh-lowest at 63%. Florida was 20th-lowest at 68%.

Nationally, the median ownership was 69% with highs of West Virginia at 78% and Delaware, Mississippi and Maine at 75%.

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