Posted on 05/13/2025 10:06:39 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
As the cost of living skyrockets, driven by a housing affordability crisis, the very definition of being “low income” is changing.
In Orange, Santa Barbara and San Diego counties, the threshold for a low-income single-person household will soon surpass $100,000 if current trends continue, according to data published by the California Department of Housing and Community Development in April.
California defines income levels by how they compare with the area’s median income. But in areas with unusually low or high housing costs, those definitions are often tweaked to reflect the reality on the ground for residents. Therefore, someone earning $100,000 could be above the area’s median income line but be considered low-income because of the high cost of housing. A number of government programs use these income designations to determine who qualifies for benefits such as housing assistance.
All of those counties have plenty of residents who make far less than $100,000 a year, so the “low income” designation is decidedly relative.
‘Sad for young people’
Sam Perez, a retiree living in Santa Ana, was reading a book at the MainPlace Mall when she learned about the data and said she wasn’t surprised.
Perez, 59, said she feels lucky that she owns her home. Her monthly payment on the four-bedroom house is roughly equivalent to the rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the area, she said.
“It’s just sad for young people,” said Perez, who worked as a purchasing supervisor for the city of Santa Ana. “For couples — both working — you can either buy a house or have a family. You can’t have both.”
Both of Perez’s sisters, who grew up with her in Santa Ana, have moved out of California to Nevada and Kansas, respectively, seeking areas with lower costs of living.
“When I started, people...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The natural outcome of three decades of total Democrat control. The middle class has been driven out of California and all that remains are the wealthy and the subsidized poor - either illegal aliens or the descendants of illegal aliens. The wealthy donate to Democrats and the poor vote for Democrats, and California is lost.
And in CaliFUBAR that should qualify those folks for Medicaid, Snap and any other free stuff “poor folks” qualify for.
Richard Cantillon’s 300 year old theory proving correct, again.
Certainly in parts of the Northeast as well.
California may have it the worst but I think most of the country is roughly in the same place. Wages have been flat since about 1970. Costs increase all the time. Some people get decent jobs, but most people get stuck with crappy dead-end jobs. This is not bad luck. This is not because “they don’t try”. This is because corporations have largely figured out that treating most people as absolute wage slaves is really good for the company’s bottomline.
These are not good times. For many reasons. Older people may think “I survived 1979! These kids today just need to toughen up!” But it’s a whole different world. Young people today have been screwed over — and they know it.
Maybe I ought to move to California. According to that number, which is no where near what I get from my pension and social security, I’d probably be eligible for all kinds of benefits. Oh wait...I’m white...forget it.
Exactly right and it’s been that way for a long time.
I told my daughter in FL 3 years ago not to accept a job for under $100K. I consider this very old news.
CA is no different than other desirable venues outside CA.
Since escaping CA 6 years ago to AZ, my property has doubled! No exaggeration, no joke. I did not expect this and didn’t plan it this way, it just happened. The corrupt local tax collectors must love it.
Bingo, see my comment above.
The wife and I are retired and doing well. We worked hard running our own business while raising 4 children and planning and saving for retirement. Now 3 of those children with our grand children have moved onto other cheaper states where they have great jobs and own their own homes. They are doing well. The number 4 child is still at home with us. Eventually he will have to stay with us, possibly marry a well to do girl, or follow his siblings to another state. Orange County where we live is inundated with established people like us, or recent generation immigrants who group together and do work hard, and other wealthier immigrants who bring bags of money and sometimes business skills with them, some highly educated and well compensated young people who can afford to be here, and everybody else who will continuously struggle. Many of that last group will eventually move away.
The bottom line is that Orange County which is beautiful and desirable will never be what it once was. Times change, newer families will find economic opportunity in other states. Some of those states are beautiful and will make great places for families to thrive and be happy. If you look at the history of America it has always been like this. Because extended families can’t always manage to stay together this predictable course of events is sad but true but true.
Santa Cruz? Has to be as bad, unless homeless in a tent with a drug habit and a stolen bike.
When our youngest daughter was enrolled at UC Santa Cruz, wife and I went shopping for a home in Santa Cruz. Our figuring was that it would be better than paying rent for an apartment to house her. She lived in a dorm the first year, when we began looking. We were shocked to find that homes in Santa Cruz were more expensive than in San Francisco! Tiny plain little homes with little to offer, but expensive as heck. We rented her an apartment, cost split with a couple other students. Fast forward 20 years, and she owns her own home near SF. Always told her to get out of renting as soon as she could, and own property.
WAS beautiful when the state had maybe 15 million. Now there is 40+ million in CA, with about 25 million in S.CA. alone. The more the population grew in CA, the worse it became.
That party got crashed long ago.
Never made anywhere that amount while I was still working & now on S.S....is there an ultra poor classification?
Welcome to today’s America,
where a 1975 millionaire is a 2025 $164,791-aire.
Good advice. Santa Cruz is maybe is incredibly expensive.
The California Trap
If you move here your rent keeps you from being able to save money to move out.
Greasy NewSCUM, who wants to POTUS, plans to turn all of the USA into the shit hole he made California into.
Just for fun, do a search on Greasy Newscum and his corruption. Endless supply of articles to read.
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