Housing costs in California are too high
California is a wonderful place to live, but is it worth the constantly increasing prices of housing? This is a question many residents of the Golden State have been asking themselves in recent years. With more and more people moving out of state, it has become a serious discussion among residents on whether or not the cost of living is worth all the attributes California has. According to California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the price of a house in California has been steadily increasing since 2012, with the median being over 700,000 dollars as of October 2021. This is a drastic difference from the United States median which is just under 300,000 dollars.
Many people are looking to move out of state to places like Texas and Arizona, which tend to give buyers more bang for their buck. Other states are growing at such a high rate that in April of 2021, after the census was released, California lost a congressional seat in the House of Representatives going from 53 to 52 representatives. To make matters worse, wages are not keeping up with the ever rising costs in California, which has forced even more people to leave.
Even my family has been deliberating on whether or not the cost of living here is too high. My family wants to buy a house, as we are currently renters, but our budget could get us a much bigger home in places like Arizona and Texas than it ever could in California. Rent has also risen along with everything else in the state, making the housing costs hard on renters too.
On average, rent in California is around 1,700 dollars for a one bedroom apartment, but in big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, some end up paying closer to 3,000 dollars in rent a month for a one bedroom apartment. These costs are 40 to 150 percent higher than the national average of around 1,200 dollars for an apartment of the same size. Housing in California has been a hotly debated issue among residents, and while the sights and sounds of the state are alluring, I would say the cost is too high to be able to enjoy them without the cost constantly hanging overhead.
