Saved analyses
Growth in state spending per resident after inflation, FY2012 to FY2024
Question: How fast did state spending per resident grow in California compared with its peers?
Result: After inflation, California's state spending per resident grew 61%, against 26% in New York and Florida, 25% for the U.S. and -5% in Texas.
Operation: (spend_pc 2024 / spend_pc 2012) / (CPI-U 2024 / CPI-U 2012) - 1, with CPI-U annual averages 313.698 and 229.586
Scope: peer table, spend_pc
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- Includes federal funds; California's growth partly reflects federally funded Medicaid expansion.
- FY2012 was a low point after California's budget cuts, which raises its growth.
- FY2024 figures are KFF-adjusted NASBO data; FY2012 figures are raw NASBO totals.
State and local taxes per resident, FY2023
Question: How much do residents pay in state and local taxes in California compared with its peers?
Result: California collected $8,942 per resident (8th nationally), against $7,038 for the U.S., $5,737 in Texas and $5,141 in Florida; New York collected $12,506.
Operation: Transcribed
Scope: peer table, tax_pc
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- Per-resident collections partly reflect California's higher incomes and include taxes paid by businesses and nonresidents.
Homeless people per 10,000 residents, 2015 and 2025
Question: How has homelessness changed in California compared with its peers?
Result: California rose from 29.6 to 46.2 per 10,000; Texas was flat at about 9, Florida fell from 17.7 to 11.9, New York rose from 44.6 to 72.8 and the U.S. from 17.6 to 21.8.
Operation: HUD state counts divided by Census population estimates, per 10,000
Scope: peer table, homeless_rate
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- FactHub calculation; HUD's own rounded rates differ slightly (e.g., New York 73 and the U.S. about 22 in 2025).
- The U.S. count includes territories.
Change in homeless count, 2015 to 2025, and unsheltered share in 2025
Question: Did California's homelessness grow faster than its peers', and how many are unsheltered?
Result: California's count rose 57% (U.S. 32%); 63.5% of homeless Californians were unsheltered in 2025, against 35.7% nationally and 4.0% in New York, which guarantees shelter.
Operation: Percent change in HUD total counts; unsheltered share = unsheltered / total
Scope: peer table, homeless_rate and unsheltered_pct
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- New York's right-to-shelter rule keeps most homeless people indoors, which raises its counted total relative to street homelessness.
Housing units permitted per 1,000 residents, annual average 2010-2025
Question: How much housing did California authorize compared with its peers?
Result: California permitted about 2.4 homes per 1,000 residents a year, against about 6 in Texas and Florida and 3.8 nationally.
Operation: Sum of monthly permits by calendar year divided by population, averaged over 2010-2025
Scope: peer table, permits_rate
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- California's population grew only about 5.5% over the period, so per added resident it permitted more homes than Texas or Florida.
- Economists disagree on how much regulation, rather than demand, explains the gap.
Growth in current spending per pupil, FY2013 to FY2024 (nominal)
Question: How fast did school spending per pupil grow in California compared with its peers?
Result: California's per-pupil spending rose 126%, about twice the U.S. (65%), New York (61%), Texas (55%), Mississippi (52%) and Florida (51%).
Operation: pupil_spend 2024 / pupil_spend 2013 - 1
Scope: peer table, pupil_spend
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- Nominal and not adjusted for living costs; PPIC finds California ranks 31st after adjusting for labor costs.
- FY2013 followed deep recession-era cuts in California, which raises its growth.
- Falling enrollment raises per-pupil figures.
Change in NAEP scores, 2013 to 2024, summed across four tests
Question: How did student test scores change in California compared with its peers?
Result: Mississippi gained 16 points across the four tests; California lost 17, less than the U.S. (-32), Florida and New York (-35) and Texas (-37).
Operation: Sum of 2013-to-2024 changes in grade 4 and 8 reading and math average scale scores
Scope: peer table, naep_change
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- A crude summary; individual changes were not all tested for statistical significance.
- Unadjusted for demographic change.
Demographically adjusted NAEP rank, 2022
Question: How do states rank once differences in student populations are accounted for?
Result: After adjusting for demographics, Florida and Mississippi averaged rank 3.5, Texas 4.8, New York 18.5 and California 19.0; California improved from 33.0 in 2019.
Operation: Transcribed from Urban Institute Table 1 (average of four test ranks; 1 = best)
Scope: peer table, naep_adj_rank
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- 2022 edition; 2024 adjusted ranks were not extracted.
Grade 4 reading scores, Mississippi, California and the U.S., 2013 and 2024
Question: How did Mississippi's early reading results change after its 2013 literacy law, compared with California and the nation?
Result: Mississippi's grade 4 reading score rose from 209 to 219, above the nation's 214; California's went from 213 to 212.
Operation: Transcribed from NAEP state snapshots
Scope: peer table, naep_g4r
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- California's 2024 score was not significantly different from the national average.
- Part of Mississippi's grade 4 gain reflects holding back third graders who do not read at grade level.
Medicaid spending growth, cost per enrollee and uninsured rates
Question: Did California's Medicaid spending grow faster than its peers', and what happened to coverage?
Result: California's total Medicaid spending grew 77% after inflation (U.S. 55%); its cost per enrollee ($8,745) is near the U.S. ($8,606); its uninsured rate fell 11.1 points, the most in the group.
Operation: Real growth from MACPAC totals with CPI-U; other values transcribed
Scope: peer table, mcaid_real_growth, mcaid_per_enrollee, uninsured_pct
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- Totals, not per enrollee; ACA expansion (CA, NY) was mostly federally funded.
- Per-enrollee figures are preliminary and exclude supplemental payments.
Approximate cost per mile of high-speed and intercity rail projects
Question: How does California high-speed rail's cost per mile compare with other projects?
Result: California's Phase 1 works out to about $255 million per mile, about twice Texas Central's estimate, 2.6 times Brightline West's and about 5 times the World Bank's European midpoint.
Operation: Project cost / route miles; World Bank per-km midpoints x 1.609
Scope: peer table, rail_cost_mi
View this analysis
- Years and currencies differ and are not inflation-adjusted.
- California includes mountain tunneling; Brightline Florida is not true high-speed rail.
- Texas Central uses the lower $30 billion estimate; USDOT's $40 billion would give about $167 million per mile.
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