Quality of Life: Housing and Infrastructure

Indicators of California's housing and infrastructure assess the extent to which our state is able to sustainably support its population.  Measures of housing and infrastructure include homeownership, median home prices, roadway congestion, roadway condition, energy consumption, and broadband availability.  Please click here for a pdf of the full set of indicators on housing and infrastructure.

  • From 1984 to 2006, California’s homeownership rate increased from 54 percent to just over 60 percent.  In 2007, the rate fell to 58 percent.  The national homeownership rate in 2007 was 68 percent.
  • Housing costs should consume no more than 35 percent of monthly income.  But in 2006, among both renters and owners, over 40 percent of Californians spent more than the recommended percentage of their income on housing.
  • Between 1996 and 2005, the median price of a home in California nearly tripled, averaging a $17,000 jump each year.
  • California has made limited progress in addressing traffic congestion.  Most commuters – three out of four –drive alone to work each day.  One in 20 Californians rides public transit to work.  About 1 in 10 rides in a carpool.  In the Bay Area, 30 percent of commuters use public transit for work, well above the statewide average.
  • The number of vehicle miles traveled per capita in California peaked in 2002, but has declined by 2.6 percent over the next four years.  This trend indicates progress toward fewer vehicles on California’s roads.
  • In 2007, the percentage of California’s bridges deemed deficient – one measure of roadway quality –was not far from the national average, at approximately 29 percent.  But this figure put California 36th in the nation, far below the best performing states.  California ranks 6th among states with the largest number of bridges at 24,184.  Among these six states, California has the highest percentage of deficient bridges.
  • California ranks third among all states in terms of least energy consumed per capita.  Only Rhode Island and New York consume less energy on a per capita basis. 
  • California is also ahead when it comes to use of alternative energy sources.  The Golden State uses more geothermal, solar, and wind energy than any other state.
  • As a global technology leader, California has the highest number of broadband lines in the country – more than twice the number of the runner-up state, New York.  When controlling for population size, California ranks 8th in the number of lines per capita.