California is an expensive state to live in. World Population Review ranks it as the second most costly place to live in the U.S. Despite a strong looking national economy, especially in the tech sector, Californians continue to worry about the increasing cost of essential goods and stagnant wages.
Los Medanos College Economics professor Ed Torres points toward the large amount of inflation that people saw since 2020 as one of the main drivers of this economic pain. All told, the cost of living for the average American household is 20% higher than it was in 2020.
“National median wages did not rise 20% over this period,” Torres said. “That is why so many American households are feeling squeezed.”
Especially in 2025, the new outlook on the economy from regular people is cynical. “You go on social media and people keep talking about it,” said LMC student Chris Palazzo. “There’s so much desire for change I see in people and we just have so little movement for it.”
“I hear it’s ridiculous,” said Palazzo regarding the price of housing. “Say you got, like an apartment somewhere nice, say Walnut Creek. One bedroom, like a living room, bathroom, it’s $2,300 a month. That’s ridiculous. Just to have a roof?”
Students here at LMC, who often have to support themselves or their families, are feeling the economic strain.
“My sister is on EBT, and when that happened she wasn’t able to get any groceries,” said Jizelle Guzman on the government shutdown and subsequent freezing of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits. “We had to send her money so she could buy food and groceries and cook food at home.”
“My family was using the SNAP program a lot,” said Marilyn Taylor. “I have 4 kids, and my daughter, she has 3 kids, so when the SNAP program cut out I had to give her food from my house to help her.”
Most students mentioned groceries as something they have noticed getting more expensive recently, red meat and eggs in particular.
David Lang, chair of the economics department at the California State University, Sacramento, explained that this feeling of groceries in particular getting more expensive reflects a broader increase in costs as a whole.
“It’s where it’s most noticeable,” Lang said. “In part because it’s where you’re seeing prices on the most regular basis [compared to other items].”
More irregular spending like car repairs and clothes are increasing in price as well, but are not noticed as much as weekly expenses.
“You can see it in real time,” Lang said. “Because of that it becomes scary.”
With a more long term view, the economic situation looks bleak as well as problems are starting to manifest, Torres claims. In particular, the fact that Americans are not saving as much as they used to, which perhaps reveals a lack of education around financial literacy like they did in the past.
“It has been shown that even if someone does something simple like invest a few hundred dollars each month into dividend stocks, they could be a millionaire in 15 to 20 years,” Torres said.
Reinvesting one’s earned wealth has worked great for past generations as surplus money could easily compound into usable cash later on.
However, with rising rents, groceries and medical care prices, investing is a risky option for most, as it means using money that could be needed for essentials.
According to Empower’s study “The Safety Net” from earlier this year, the median savings for emergency savings in all of the US is $500, the median for Gen Z is even lower at just $400. The choice to invest for a person with $400 in emergency funds could mean that a car repair or hospital bill could go unpaid, potentially putting that person in even more financial stress.
Simply put, there isn’t enough surplus money to reinvest with how expensive things have gotten.
While older folks who perhaps own houses and have built up a 401k are secure in their future, Gen Z and Millennials have a rough path ahead of them, especially in California.
However, despite their bleak outlook, students often cited family and friends as their support systems. LMC also offers assistance to students, faculty and staff that need assistance during this time of economic strife. LMC Marketplace, EOPS, DSPS and more are available to help. More information about these programs can be found on the LMC website.
