”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: California’s lofty housing costs are topped by just three places in the nation when you ponder the expense per person.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed one yardstick of the burden of housing costs – the annual analysis of personal consumption expenditures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The study looks at per capita spending in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Topline

Californians paid $11,262 per person for housing-related expenses and utility costs in 2022 – 23% above the typical American’s $9,161.

If that seems low, note that the typical California household has nearly three residents. Also, remember that many homeowners have no mortgage or a home loan with a low-low interest rate acquired during the heated days of the pandemic.

Consider the scale of California’s housing cost pain: It was topped by DC at $14,959, Colorado at $11,466 and Massachusetts at $11,315.

By the way, the lowest US spending on housing was $6,436 in Mississippi.

Or peek at housing costs this way: The cost of shelter gobbled up 19% of California’s per capita consumer spending (No. 8 share nationally) vs. 17% nationally. Hawaiians spent the most on housing, 20% of all spending. The low was 14% in North Dakota.

Details

Look at the big picture.

Californians spent $60,272 per person on all goods and services last year (No. 5 nationally). That’s 15% above US expenditures. High? $85,732 (District of Columbia). Low? $39,678 (Mississippi).

Then look at high-profile consumer expenses outside of shelter.

Health: $9,335 spent per Californian (No. 11 nationally) – 12% above the US. High? $12,239 in the District of Columbia. Low? $6,213 in Utah. Health is 15% of Golden State per-capita spending (No. 35 nationally) vs.16% nationally. High? 23% in West Virginia. Low? 13% in Utah.

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Food: $4,534 spent per Californian (No. 13 nationally) – 8% above the US. High? $7,217 in the District of Columbia. Low? $3,198 in Oklahoma. Food is 8% of Golden State per-capita spending (No. 42 nationally) vs. 8% nationally. High? 10% in Mississippi. Low? 7% in Minnesota.

Gasoline/energy: $1,442 spent per Californian (No. 37 nationally) – 6% below the US. High? $2,186 in Iowa. Low? $814 in Hawaii. Fuels equal 2% of Golden State per-capita spending (No. 42 nationally) vs. 3% nationally. High? 5% in Iowa. Low? 1% in Hawaii.

Bottom line

Think about overall spending for every man, woman and child.

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California consumers spent $2.35 trillion on goods and services last year (No. 1 nationally) – that’s 13% of the $17.5 trillion in expenditures nationwide.

But more importantly, Golden State spending was up $206 billion from 2021 (No. 1 gain) –  and a 9.6% jump (12th largest percentage advance among the states). Americans’ total spending rose 9.2% in the year.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

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