An astounding seven million Californians — or 17.7% of the state’s population — lived in poverty last year, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. That leaves California tied with Louisiana as the state with the highest poverty rate in the nation.
High housing costs are one of the main drivers of poverty in California, according to the report from the California Budget and Policy Center (CBPC).
People who rent are significantly poorer than those who own property. Among renters, the poverty rate was 27.1% in 2024, compared to 11.1% of homeowners. Black and Latino residents also continue to experience much higher poverty rates than white residents.
Reductions in public assistance have contributed to the crisis, the report found. In 2021, California’s poverty rate dropped to 11% — a historic low. That was partly due to an expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit and increased public benefits, which have since expired.
While poverty has risen among all groups, children and young people have been especially impacted. Between 2021 and 2024, childhood poverty more than doubled, according to CBPC. The report warns that future cuts from H.R. 1, combined with state budget rollbacks, could worsen the numbers.
Child poverty has risen since 2021 from 7.5% to more than double that in 2024 at 18.6%. In general, the poverty rate is higher for children than for adults given the costs associated with raising children (such as child care) and the low wages for parents and caregivers, particularly women and women of color. Additionally, at the national level, the expanded federal CTC kept 2.9 million children out of poverty in 2021. When Congress let the expanded CTC expire in 2022, more children in California fell into poverty. This trend will only worsen with recent federal budget decisions to take the child tax credit away from mixed-status families.
Read the report here.