Income Inequality in California - The gap between high and low incomes is wider in California than in most other states. After widening at the onset of the pandemic, California’s income gap narrowed in 2022.

⊲ In 2022 (the most recent data available), families at the top of the income distribution—the 90th percentile—earned 11 times more than families at the 10th percentile ($305,000 vs. [...] ⊲ The current gap reflects 52% income growth for the 90th percentile, and 13% growth for the 10th percentile over the past four decades. [...] Family income is adjusted for inflation and stated in 2022 dollars; to make families comparable, income is normalized to reflect the equivalent for a family of four. [...] ⊲ Taxes paid by high-income families as well as tax credits and safety net programs—including Earned Income Tax Credits and food assistance—narrow the gap between top and bottom incomes by 50%, according to the California Poverty Measure (as of the first quarter of 2023—when some pandemic expansions to food assistance were still in place). [...] ⊲ These programs also reduce racial income inequality, shrinking the gap in median income between white and Asian families on the higher end and Black and Latino families on the lower end by about 28%.