XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.misc   
   From: democrat@ruined.california   
      
   California still has the highest cost of living in the U.S. And it's not   
   just because of housing.   
      
   The state's prices in 2024 were about 11% higher than the national   
   average, once again the highest cost gap in the nation, according to new   
   data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data, which serves   
   as the federal government's most comprehensive measure of regional   
   cost-of-living differences, are published on a lag, so the most recent   
   estimates available are for 2024.   
      
   Housing remained a standout cost, with California's estimated rent   
   prices more than 53% higher than in the U.S. overall. But another   
   important expense stood out even more starkly: utilities, which were 60%   
   more expensive in California, with only Hawaiians spending more.   
      
   The Bureau of Economic Analysis only reports cost-of-living as a   
   relative index, not in dollars, so the data doesn't indicate how much   
   Californians were paying toward utilities in absolute terms. But the   
   trend appears to echo a surge in electricity prices over the past few years.   
      
   California's electricity rates have for decades been higher than those   
   in the rest of the U.S., according to the Public Policy Institute of   
   California. But utility costs have surged since 2019, when the state's   
   utility prices were roughly 32% higher than the national figure.   
      
   California's high wildfire risk has largely driven the rise in its   
   electricity rates, according to a 2025 analysis by the California   
   Legislative Analyst's Office, which conducts research for the state   
   Legislature. For Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers, the average bill   
   soared from less than $170 to nearly $300 in 2024, data from the company   
   shows. The Legislative Analyst's Office's analysis also pointed to the   
   costs of mandatory wildfire and greenhouse gas mitigation programs as   
   factors.   
      
   While the gulf between utility prices in California and the country   
   overall is widening, it's actually shrinking slightly for housing costs.   
   In 2020, California's rent prices were even further away from the   
   national average - by 66% - than they were in 2024. (The Bureau of   
   Economic Analysis only includes actual rent costs and homeowners'   
   would-be rent costs in its calculations.)   
      
   But the decline isn't because housing is getting cheaper in California.   
   Rents exploded across the U.S. during the pandemic, but they grew more   
   slowly here than in other states like Florida or New York. That was due   
   in large part to a cooling rental market in California's major coastal   
   areas such as San Francisco and Los Angeles that lost many tenants to   
   more affordable states - some of which became less affordable as a result.   
      
   That said, California's housing costs remained above that of any other   
   state in 2024. And the San Francisco metro area still had the highest   
   overall cost of living in the country, with prices nearly 16% higher   
   than the national average.   
      
   https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/cost-living-elect   
   icity-california-21360801.php   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)