The worst of things, the best of things (almost) in study for California
We've all seen studies and reports that rank communities and states. Many of these studies will deem a community as the most livable or family-friendly, only for that community to disappear from that same report the following year.
While the studies like this should be taken with a grain of skepticism, sometimes they can confirm what we suspect or know. Such is the case of a new survey conducted by WalletHub.com of 2023's Best States to Live In.
For Californians, in two of the five study categories, the state rated the second best; in another, the Golden State was dead last. Let's take a look at these, starting with the bad news.
In housing cost, California ranked 50th, making it the least affordable state for housing. Topping the list for the most affordable housing was Iowa.
This category's components, which comprise 20 percent of the total rating, included median property taxes, family income, cost of living, and homeownership rate. California has well-documented affordability challenges and a severe housing shortage leading to social problems, notably homelessness.
While California rates worst for affordability, not all is terrible. Regarding quality of life, the state is second only to New York.
Within the quality of life, which is 20 percent of the rating, California rates highly in 17 measures. Some of these measures include things like road quality, bars and restaurants per capita, and weather.
The other three main categories are education and health, safety, and economy. Overall, California was ranked 24th, just behind Nebraska and ahead of Michigan at 25th.
Massachusetts was rated the top-rated state. The Old Bay State's lowest rating was housing affordability, where it ranked 44th.
The complete study can be viewed here.
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