How much does it cost to live in California? This age group pays the most for food, housing
It’s no secret that California is one of the most expensive states to live in the nation.
The median home value in the state is $786,938, only second behind Hawaii, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
In its 2024 Cost of Bills Index, online bill payment service Doxo found that Californians spend $3,010 per month on household expenses. That’s 42% above the national average of $2,126.
However, the financial burden is bigger for some age groups than others.
A recent study by personal finance website GoBankingRates broke down the cost of living in California by generation.
Which demographic is paying more for housing, health care, food and other expenses?
Here’s what GoBankingRates found:
Which age group has highest cost of living in California?
Members of Generation X have the highest cost of living in California, spending a total of $62,591 annually, according to the GoBankingRates study.
That’s “much higher” than the average annual expenditures for baby boomers, millennials and members of Generation Z, GoBankingRates writer Vance Cariaga wrote in a December article.
The site defined Gen X as those born between 1965 and 1980.
On average, Gen Xers spend $7,630 a year on groceries, $12,769 on health care, $24,085 on housing, $7,575 on utilities and $9,258 on transportation.
They also shelled out an average of $1,274 yearly for what the site described as “miscellaneous” expenses.
Why are Gen Xers living paycheck to paycheck?
Why are expenses higher for Generation X?
“One thing the data reveals is that Gen Xers have entered a stage of life where their incomes — and costs — begin to peak,” Cariaga wrote.
In a separate study, published in May, GoBankingRates found that 64.2% of Gen Xers report “living paycheck to paycheck.”
Gen Xers are also dealing with debt.
Gen X families are “more likely to have children, less likely to be single-person households and live in bigger properties” than other generations, consumer credit reporting service Experian said.
Gen Xers have an average monthly mortgage payment of $2,313, according to Experian.
While just 25% of Gen Xers are still paying off student loans, the median debt balance for that age group is $31,066, according to an analysis by online lender Lending Tree.
That’s the highest debt load of any generation, Lending Tree found.
What about baby boomers? Millennials?
GoBanking Rates compared the annual cost of living for Gen X with those for other age groups living in California — including baby boomers, who were born from 1946 to 1964.
The personal finance website also examined expenditures for millennials, born from 1981 to 1997, and Gen Zers, who were born in 1997 or later.
Here’s how the numbers broke down.
Baby boomers:
- Grocery: $6,196 per year on average
- Health care: $14,260
- Housing: $17,709
- Utilities: $6,475
- Transportation: $6,727
- Miscellaneous: $1,248
- Total expenditures: $52,61
Millennials:
- Grocery: $6,548 per year on average
- Healthcare: $8,329
- Housing: $22,961
- Utilities: $6,014
- Transportation: $7,880
- Miscellaneous: $1,110
- Total expenditures: $52,840
Gen Z:
- Grocery: $3,755 per year on average
- Healthcare: $3,126
- Housing: $17,012
- Utilities: $3,748
- Transportation: $5,298
- Total expenditures: $32,939
GoBankingRates did not include the annual cost of living for the Greatest Generation — people born from 1901 to 1927 — or the Silent Generation, including those born from 1928 to 1945, in its study.
How did GoBankingRates come up with its findings?
GOBankingRates analyzed the average monthly expenses and highest expenditure costs for each generation in every state in the United States to come up with annual figures.
The study was based on monthly expenses related to groceries, health care, housing, utilities and transportation using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: Editor’s Note: The cost of living by generation has been corrected. The GoBankingRates study calculated the average cost of monthly individual expenses, which was misidentified in an earlier version of this story.
