EDITOR'S NOTE: Multimedia journalist Christian Galeno spoke with a resident considering leaving California and a USC professor about the state's high living costs. Click the arrow above to watch the video.

LOS ANGELES — As much as California residents love the Golden State, 40% are considering moving away, according to a new public opinion poll released Friday. The driving force behind their dissatisfaction is anxiety over the cost of health care, housing and everyday living expenses.

What You Need To Know

  • Forty percent of Californians are considering moving away, according to a new California Community Poll

  • Anxiety over the cost of health care, housing and everyday living expenses is the main reason

  • California is home to four of the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest cost of living

  • Despite the high costs, 68% of survey respondents said living in California is important to their personal identities

Californians feel less financially secure than they did just three years ago, when the Los Angeles Times and local nonprofits first began conducting the California Community Poll. In early 2020, 77% of those earning more than $100,000 annually and 54% of people making $50,000 to $100,000 said they could live comfortably and save money for the future. Today, those numbers have dropped to 57% and 28%, respectively.

California is home to four of the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest cost of living, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research. San Francisco, Orange County, Los Angeles/Long Beach and San Diego are all significantly higher than the national average.

The median price of a single-family home in California was $791,490 in March, according to the California Association of Realtors, compared with the national median of $375,700. Per capita health care spending in California is also higher than the U.S. average at $10,299 per person, according to the California Health Care Foundation.

Californians are already leaving the state for less expensive places such as Texas, Nevada and Arizona. In 2022, the state population fell for the third year in a row, dropping by 138,443, the California Department of Finance reported last month.  

Despite the high costs, the California Community Poll found that most of the people who live in the state are happy because of its diversity and the opportunities it provides to do the things they enjoy. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said living in California is important to their personal identities and a place where they fit in and feel comfortable.

The California Community Poll, the sixth survey of its kind conducted since 2020, is a partnership between Strategies 360, the Los Angeles Times, The Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality and the Los Angeles Urban League. The most recent survey was conducted June 6 to 16 among 1,354 California residents.