California

California by the Numbers:
Key Statistical Data and Facts

Key Details

• California is the most populous state in the U.S., with 39,142,991 residents as of 2022.
• In 2021, there were 14,512,281 housing units in California, with an average of 2.92 persons per household 
• 84.2% of residents are high school graduates, and 35.3% have bachelor's degrees or higher qualifications.
• The sitting Governor as of 2023 is Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party.
• As of 2022, the median household income in California was $84,09, higher than the national average.
• California's life expectancy in 2020 was 79 years.

California Population Demographics

Located in Western United States, California is the most populous state in the U.S. According to Census estimates, as of 2022, California is home to 39,142,991 residents, higher than the combined population of New York and Philadelphia (the fourth and fifth most populated states in the U.S.). The Golden State accounts for 12% of the U.S. population. A quarter of California’s population lives in the Los Angeles County area.

Viewed across age groups, 56.7% of California’s residents are 18 to 64 years, 22.4% are below 18 years, 15.2% are 65 years or over, and 5.7% are under the age of 5. The Golden State has an even gender spread, with males and females accounting for 50% each.

Note: California borders Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, the Mexican state of Baja California, and the Pacific Ocean to the west

California Housing

According to the US Census

$1,747

Homeowners also had to pay an average in mortgages.

14 512 281

As of July 1, 2021, there were 14,512,281 housing units in California, with an average of 2.92 persons per household.

55.5%

California housing units were owner-occupied.

$573,200

Between 2017 and 2021, the median value of owner-occupied houses was $573,200

$2,548 and $664

The average monthly rate with and without a mortgage was $2,548 and $664, respectively

$1,698

In comparison, the median gross rent

California Racial Demographics

California has a multi-racial population including Whites, African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Latinos, Hawaiian Natives, Asians, and other Pacific Islanders. White Americans account for a large percentage of the population (71.1%), and Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders have the lowest population (0.5%). Like most states that border Mexico in the SouthernU.S., California has a large Hispanic or Latino population (40.2%). African Americans and American Indians with Alaska Natives account for 6.5% and 1.7% of the population, respectively. Also, 4.2% of California's population is multiracial. The table below outlines the racial composition of California’s population.

Note: Individuals who indicated white as their race in the U.S. Census questionnaires include Europeans, North Africans, and people of Middle East origin.

Elections in California

Governorship elections in California are typically a two-horse race between the Democrats and Republicans. Between 1999 and 2022, the Democratic party won three of the four governorship elections in the state. However, the Republicans were dominant prior to this, retaining power from 1983 till 1999.

The Republican party also won all but 10 of the 29 governorship elections in California between 1869 and 1999. As of May 2023, the sitting California governor is Gavin Newsom of the Democratic party(he was sworn into office for a first term in 2019 as the 40th governor of the state).

As of 2023, California’s two senators are the Democrats, Dianne Feinstein (senior Senator) and Alejandro Padilla. Also, the Democrats account for 40 of the 52 California representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives.

2020 Presidential Election

The Democrats won all eight presidential elections in California between 1992 and 2020. Before the 1992 elections, the Republican Party won 9 of the ten presidential elections in California between 1952 and 1988. In the 2020 elections, Joe Biden of the Democratic Party defeated the incumbent President Donald Trump of the Republican Party with 63.5% of the valid votes (11,110,639) against Trump’s 6,006,518 (34.3% of votes).

Joe Biden

Donald Trump

California Voting Statistics

According to data from the California Secretary of State Office, as of February 10, 2023, the Democratic Party membership in California stands at 10,305,901, and the Republican Party has 5,236,952. These figures account for 46.89% and 23.83% of registered voters in the state. A majority of the registered voters in California cast their votes during the 2020 presidential elections. The voter turnout in the Golden State was 13,202,158. This represents 72% of registered voters for the year.

General Election

How Educated Is California

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that as of 2021, 84.2% of Californians aged 25 and over are high school graduates, and 35.3% have bachelor’s degrees or higher qualifications. For the 2022/2023 academic year, 5,852,544 enrolled in public schools across 1018 districts in the state.

California has the most number of educational institutions in the United States. In 2021, the highest level of educational attainment for California residents aged 25 years and over was a bachelor’s degree (22.1%) and a high school diploma (20.7%). In addition, 14.0% had graduate or professional degrees, 7.9% had associate’s degrees, and 19.7% had some college education but no certificate.

California Employment Rate

As of March 2023, California's unemployment rate was 4.4%, and the total payroll jobs were 17,967,80. The unemployment rate in California increased from 4.1% in September 2022 to 4.4% in March 2023.

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that 18,511,400 jobs were created in the Golden State in March 2023, a 0.08% increase over the figures for February 2023 (18,496,700). The unemployment rate in California differs in the different sectors of the economy. For instance, California's unemployment rate in the Professional and Business Services sector dropped from 4.4% in September 2022 to 2.1 in March 2023. In the same period, the rate of unemployment in the Education and Health Services sector rose from 4.8 to 5.0.

The number of unemployed in California rose from 841,700 to 859,600 between February and March 2023. However, California’s minimum wage of$15.50 per hour for the employed is higher than the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. An individual working on minimum wage for 40 hours per week and 52 weeks per year in California will earn $124 per day, $620 per week, and $32,200 per year.

Average Income in California

As of 2022, the median household income in California was $84,097. This figure was more than $15,000 higher than the U.S. household average of $69,021. In California, the median income for a family with one earner is$65,895, while the median income for households with two or three earners is $87,355 and $97,092.

Families in California

California Marriage Rates

California Divorce Rates

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2021, the divorce rate in California was 8.9% per 1,000 residents aged 15 years and over. This figure was higher than the U.S. national average of 7.6% per 1,000 residents. The divorce rate is higher among California’s population. In 2021, 10.5% of the state’s female population was divorced compared to 7.1% of the males. Also, 2.2% of California’s female population were separated from their spouses, compared to 1.6% of the males.

Life Expectancy in California

Life expectancy in California is 79.0 years as of 2020. California ranks 4th among the U.S. states with the highest life expectancy. California’s life expectancy is higher than the United States average of 77.0 years. The life expectancy for males and females in California differs. As of 2020, the average life expectancy for males and females living in the Golden State was 76.2 years and 82.0 years.

In 2020, 146,718 women who were 15 and above had given birth in the past 12 months according to US Census Bureau statistics. 33.7% of the women who had given birth were unmarried. The age group with the highest percentage of births in the past year was 20 to 34 years, at 73.3%. Of the women who had birthed in the past year, 65.3% were Black or African American, while 27.4% were white. Asian and Hispanic or Latino formed 9.5% and 2.4% of the women, respectively.

The leading cause of death in California is heart disease. In 2020, California recorded a relatively high drug overdose death rate of 42.4 per 100,000 persons. For context, the national drug overdose rate was28.3 per 100,000 persons in 2020. The firearm injury death rate was 14.8 per 100,000 persons in 2021.

California Crime Rates

As of 2021, California's crime rate was 4.66 per 1,000 residents living in the state. This was a 6.0% increase from the 2020 figure of 4.40 per 1000 residents in the state. Crime rate differs across California’s different regions. Residents are more likely to be a victim of crime in Southern California neighborhoods than in the Northern part. For instance, the chances of being a crime victim in Southern California can be as high as 1 in 145 districts but as low as 1 in 290 in the Northern part of the state.

Data from the FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System showed that in 2021, 348 law enforcement agencies operating in the state reported 11,757 offenses (including violent crimes). This figure covers about 29% of California's population. The crime rate in California is lower than the national average. The graph below shows how the crime rate in California varied between 2004 and 2020 compared to the U.S. crime rate for the period.

California Incarceration Rate

According to statistics from the National Institute of Corrections,

1,000 residents

As of 2023, California's incarceration rate is 5.49 inmates per 1,000 residents. This includes individuals serving terms in prisons, county and city jails, immigration detention, and in juvenile justice facilities.

101,441 persons

In 2021, California ranked 2nd among states with the highest number of prison inmates in the U.S., with 101,441 persons locked up (next to Texas’s 133,772).

from 100,396 in 2020 to 101,441 in 2021

Between 2020 and 2021, California had the highest inmate population increase in the United States

100,000 prison inmates

The Legislative Analyst’s Office of the California Legislature projected that California’s inmate population will be just above 100,000 prison inmates yearly between 2022 and 2025.

96% male prison inmates

California’s prison inmate population is disproportionate based on sex. For instance, male prison inmates accounted for over 96% of California’s prison population in 2021.

The Prison Policy Initiative has published data showing the incarceration rate for women as of 2015 was 43 per 100,000 persons. On the other hand, the incarceration rate was 747 per 100,000 persons.

California Bankruptcy Rate

2022

7,496 bankruptcy cases

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, California had 7,496 bankruptcy cases in 2022. This figure is a massive reduction from the 2021 cumulative filing figure of 39,305. The most common bankruptcies in California are Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation bankruptcy) and Chapter 13 bankruptcy (Reorganization bankruptcy).

Chapter 7 bankruptcy (personal bankruptcy) accounts for a big part of bankruptcy cases in California (80% in 2022 and 85% in 2021). In California, business bankruptcy Chapter 13) cases have declined between 2011 and 2022. In 2022, 1,732 business bankruptcy cases were filed in California (a decrease of 346 from the previous year’s figure of 2,078). The charat below outlines how business bankruptcy cases varied from 2011 to 2022.

Weird Laws in California

California has its share of strange, weird, or bizarre laws. Some of these include: