Try Cal Facts, a 72 page report produced by the California Legislative Analyst’s office, reveals that the Golden State is one of the largest economies in the world.
The Los Angeles Times reported that according to legislative analyst Mac Taylor, the overall message of the charts and graphs in the report is that the Golden state is very complex. “It’s complicated with the state getting close to 40 million people,” the analyst said. “There is a lot going on … and a lot to understand.”
California’s $2.2-trillion-a-year economy is emphasized immediately in the report. It states on the first page that in 2013, if California was an independent nation, it would rank #8 in Gross Domestic Product. California ranked ahead of Russia and Italy and was surpassed only by the USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Brazil.
In the GDP state rankings, California dwarfed its closest competitor Texas, which produced $1.5 trillion in total domestic product.
Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles-Orange County area and the San Francisco Bay area accounted for over 50% of the state’s total GDP.
The report revealed for the years 2011 through 2013, California was home to 9 million people below the poverty line. They represented 23.4% of the Golden State’s population when you include public financial assistance and housing costs. The poverty rate is far greater than the 14.8% living in poverty in the nation as a whole.
However, on a more positive note, Californians medium income of $60,000 exceeds the rest of the nation which levels off at 52,000.