This map shows the households that have less than $10,000 according to the 2022 1 year ACS. There are no counties in California that have a large percentile, which makes sense since I know that typically it is more expensive to live in California. The areas that have the largest percentages are the ones that are bordering Nevada (but not the gray ones), while the ones with the least (other than the gray ones) are the ones that are on the outside border of the state. This would make sense, since it's typically more expensive to live at the beach, so you probably wouldn't have too many low-income families living there.
This map shows the opposite end of the spectrum, at households with less than $200,000 according to the 1 year ACS. I makes sense that since it's the opposite end of the spectrum, it has the opposite results. There are no counties that have a low percentage of households with less than $200,000. It is the most amount of money that you can have on the ACS, which would make sense that a lot of people have less than it. The counties with the least amount of people that fall into this category are the ones that border the country, which again, the beach is usually the most expensive place to live, so this would make sense that the wealthiest families live here.
This map is directly in the middle, at households with less than $45,000. There is a much wider range of colors on this map. There is only one county on the map that would be on the lower percentage of that spectrum, and the majority of counties falls in the middle range of that spectrum. This would make sense because based on the rest of the data, we could assume that the people in the middle of this range are like the middle class families. It would make sense that the majority of families are middle class, and wealthier, knowing that California is typically a little more expensive to live in.
2 comments:
One thing about California is that there is a HUGE wealth gap and income inequality throughout the state. With shows like The Real Housewives that glorify the millionaires who take up space in California, it takes away the focus from the majority of the population who aren't making a liveable wage-- especially since the cost of living in CA is so high.
Also, I'm noticing that the same few counties were not counted in the 2022 1 year ACS, and I'm wondering why that data wasn't counted in the data collection. Is there a chunk of desert in that part of CA so people don't tend to live there?
You did a great job showing how the cost of living in California affects the distribution of household income. It is pretty interesting how much the geographic location determines these wealth disparities, with such great contrast from counties abutting Nevada to those that abut up to the coast. I also notice you say households with less than $45,000 represent the middle class. Interesting how that middle range captures a huge portion of the families, reflective of the overall economic landscape of the state. The contrast between the areas near the beach and those on the outskirts enforces location as a shaper of economic opportunity. Equally, it should be duly noted that no counties have less than a low percentage of households making less than $200,000, further entailing the high cost of living in California. It is a brutal reminder of the economics many in this expensive state must endure.
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