Californians 2nd-Most Likely to Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck

Payday loans (Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)
Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press

California ranks second in the nation among states where its citizens are forced to live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to GoBankingRates.com.

The website found that only Hawaii was worse than California, stating that Californians spent 35% of their paychecks on housing and 25% on transportation. Only about 13% of each paycheck was left over after bills were paid.

GoBankingRates.com rated states by subtracting housing costs, food expenditures, transportation expenses, utilities and healthcare from a median paycheck.

Hawaii led the nation in the dubious claim for the worst state to live vis-à-vis paychecks, followed by California, New York, Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

The states where citizens were least likely to live paycheck to paycheck were all “flyover states.” The best state was Minnesota, followed by Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska and North Dakota.

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, Cameron Huddleston, GOBankingRates spokesman, said, “Living paycheck to paycheck isn’t necessarily a function of income. Plenty of upper-income households live hand-to-mouth because of poor financial habits,” he said.

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