Are you considering moving to California in the US but want to be sure if it’s a good decision? Hence your question, “is California a good place to live?”
Recommended
There are a number of factors to consider before deciding if California is a good place for you to live. These include security, cost of living, foreigners’ hospitality, etc.
Is California a Good Place to Live?
The cost of home prices in California is skyrocketing, and the cost of living is getting high. Crime rates seem to be going higher too.
Considering all these, I’d say you need to be sure if you really want to settle in California, as there are red flags, especially if all I mentioned matters to you.
What Makes California a Good or Bad Place to Live?
Here are the factors we considered:
1. Cost of living
One of the most important things to consider when moving to any place is the cost of living there. You don’t want to live where you live from hand to mouth because the cost of living is crazy.
According to the COI index, California is the most expensive state to live in, in the US. Everything is just beyond the US national average. The average rent in California is a little more than double that of the US national average.
This is really a factor that you must check before you finalize your travel to California. Consider your pay, or probably you got a job already waiting for you in California, you should way the cost of living with the amount you will be receiving.
If you live in a state with a much lesser cost of living, living on an average salary will be a little high possible, but surviving on the same salary while in a state with a high cost of living will be almost impossible.
This is the major reason I don’t see California as a good place to live, even though there are good things about the state too. You can consider other states like Florida.
2. Security and crime rate
Nobody wants to live in the middle of a war zone, or in a place where one’s life is unsafe. Every other factor would not matter if safety is out of the window.
The violent crime rate in California is just a little above the US national average crime rate. Even though the crime rate seems increasing, I don’t think this calls for alarm or a change of mind in location.
3. Weather
For most parts of California, the weather is warm and dry during the summer, and the winter is mild and wet winter.
4. Amenities
This is another essential factor to consider when considering moving to a new location. You don’t want to stay in a place where you and your family will not have access to basic amenities like education, health, good transportation, etc.
Education in California is really great. There are a lot of great colleges and universities in California. Also, California is known as the top-ranked destination for many international students in the United States.
Healthcare affordability in California is ranked 20th among all the states in the US for overall quality of care for average or low-income patients. The state houses good hospitals like UCLA medical center, UCI Medical center, etc.
5. Tax
Tax is also another strong factor to consider, as tax can be high in some states in the United States. You might think that it won’t hurt that you pay a few tens or hundreds of dollars every month.
Well, you are mandated and necessitated to pay tax if you live in California. The tax is pegged at 7.25% across the state.
6. Economy and employment opportunities
You definitely want to know how easy it can be to get good jobs in the place you are planning to move to, or how the economy of the place is.
The unemployment rate in California is 4.30%. This means that the number of people who are unemployed in California is really low, compared to the total population of the whole state.
The job market in California increased by 5 percent last year, that’s the fourth highest among all the states in the US.
The average salary in California is around $61,000. The average pay seems good, but this is still dependent on the job you have.
This seems to be a consolation for all other things that seem discouraging to settling in California. Even at that, I can’t be okay with California 100%.
Conclusion
I hope you have gotten all the necessary information you need to decide if living in California is a good place for you.
