California Business Minute™

The Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution
serves the needs of California communities, businesses and its
residents. It is committed to helping Californians access credit.

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Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

If you are interested in learning where the Best and Worst States are for making a
living, MoneyRates.com has completed an analysis that takes into account several
factors that affect one’s ability to make a living.  According to their analysis,
California doesn't fare too well. The factors considered in the analysis include:
average state wages, state unemployment rate, state tax rate, and state cost of
living.

Based on these factors, MoneyRates.com calculated an adjusted-average income for each
state and ranked states against each other. Here is the resulting list of the worst
ten states for making a living:

1. Hawaii: An extremely high cost of living, coupled with a fairly high tax rate,
    give the Aloha state the lowest adjusted-average income at $22,107.96.

2. Maine: A combination of relatively low wages and an above-average cost of
    living gives it the second-worst adjusted-average income, at $29,159.19.

3. Montana: Due to low average wages, its adjusted-average income is $29,495.73.

4. California: The state's fiscal woes along with high taxes, high unemployment,
    and a high cost of living drag its adjusted-average income down to $29,772.40.

5. Vermont: It is only slightly better than California. The state does have a
    fairly low unemployment rate, but relatively high state taxes and cost of
    living drag down its ranking with an adjusted-average income of $29,985.60.

6. Oregon: The state suffers from an above-average rate of unemployment and once
    residents find a job they have to contend with a high cost of living and a high
    state tax rate. This combination gives Oregon the sixth-worst adjusted-average
    income in the country, at $30,343.10.

7. Rhode Island: The cost of living, state taxes and the unemployment rate are all
    factors to drag down adjusted-average income to $30,611.87.

8. Mississippi: The cost of living is cheaper than the average for the country as
    a whole, but unfortunately, the state's average wage levels are among the lowest 
    in the country with an adjusted-average income of $30,952.90.

9. West Virginia: Its characteristics are similar to those of Mississippi - a low
    cost of living is not enough to make up for very low wage levels in the state.
    The adjusted-average income to come in at a slightly better level of $31,357.15

10. South Carolina: The state suffers from a combination of below-average wages,
    above-average state taxes and above-average unemployment with an adjusted-
    average income of $31,636.27.

THE TOP TEN BEST STATES TO MAKE A LIVING

1 Illinois $41,986.51    
2 Washington $41,455.73    
3 Texas  $41,427.12    
4 Virginia $41,120.49    
5 Delaware $39,104.64    
6 Massachusetts $38,664.86    
7 Georgia  $38,228.47    
8 Tennessee $38,038.27    
9 Colorado $38,020.24    
10 Minnesota $37,721.99    

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.