"But despite its wealth, the state has also seen a sharp increase in poverty since the COVID-19 pandemic, and newly released data shows the disparity lingers. U.S. Census Bureau data released this week found that 7 million California residents - 17.7% of the population - were living in poverty last year. California was tied with Louisiana in 2024 for the highest poverty rate of any U.S. state, according to The California Budget and Policy Center, a Sacramento-based think tank."
""We're not surprised to see this poverty rate," said Tracy Weatherby, chief impact officer of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, which manages a network of food banks. "We see it in the community every day, how much people are struggling to get by." Weatherby expects more Californians will fall into poverty - struggling to afford basic needs - because of President Donald Trump's landmark rollbacks of Medicaid, the health provider for low-income people. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed this summer, also cuts nutrition assistance."
California, if it were a country, would have the world's fourth-largest economy, yet poverty has risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Census Bureau data found 7 million California residents, 17.7% of the population, lived in poverty last year, tying California with Louisiana for the highest state poverty rate in 2024. The poverty measure used accounts for some but not all aspects of California's high cost of living. Second Harvest of Silicon Valley chief impact officer Tracy Weatherby says community members face daily struggles and expects more Californians will fall into poverty because of federal Medicaid rollbacks and nutrition assistance cuts.
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