Why California Is So Expensive: Victor Davis Hanson

As California ranks among the nation’s highest-cost places to live, the well-known scholar explains the state’s gradual shift from the “land of opportunity.”

A pedestrian carries a shopping bag while walking through Union Square in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California undeniably ranks among the nation’s highest-cost places to live.

The state’s cost of living in 2023 is nearly 40 percent higher than the average nationwide, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, which also provides analysis on the economy nationwide.