Roughly 1-in-5 California households have housing expenses gobbling up more than half of their incomes.

My trusty spreadsheet identified numerous affordability challenges by analyzing 2024 Census Bureau housing data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia . These latest figures detail swings in who’s renting and who owns, how much they pay a month, which households are financially swamped by housing expenses, and how many folks can squeeze into a home.

Last year, California had 2.8 million households in all kinds of living arrangements where housing expenses exceeded 50% of their income. That’s the largest burdened flock among the states and 14% of the 19.4 million nationwide. California’s economic rivals ranked next: Texas and Florida, at 1.7 million.

Such cash-strapped househ

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