Moving to California
New residents have 10 days to get a California driver license and must register a car within 20 days. Prices are 10.7% above the U.S. average, and a single filer earning $100,000 pays about $4,911 in California income tax. 252,863 households moved here from other states in 2022–2023, most often from Texas and New York.
New resident checklist for California
Driver license
Out-of-state license valid only 10 days after establishing residency (Vehicle Code 12505); vision exam and knowledge test required, drive test generally waived with a valid out-of-state license. Before your appointment, use the California motor vehicle agency's document checklist for the license type you choose. Standard and REAL ID requirements can differ, including accepted identity and address documents, name-change records and Social Security documentation or permitted alternatives.
Vehicle title and registration
Register within 20 days of becoming a resident or getting a job in CA. Requires VIN verification (REG 31) and a California smog certificate for most gas vehicles 1976+ and diesels 1998+. Switch your auto insurance to a California policy.
Taxes or fees on a car you bring: Use tax (state + local rate) may be due if the vehicle was bought outside CA and brought in within 12 months of purchase; the presumption can be rebutted with proof of out-of-state use. Vehicles owned longer than 12 months pay no use tax.
Annual registration: By value: $76 registration + $34 CHP fee + Vehicle License Fee of 0.65% of vehicle value + Transportation Improvement Fee of $33-$231 by value tier, plus county/district fees.
Extra yearly fee for an electric vehicle: $121.
Establishing residency
You are a resident if you intend to live in California 6+ months in a year, or you take a job in the state. Residency also decides where you pay income tax in the year you move; see taxes the year you move.
Your first-month checklist in California
- Register to vote at your new address.
- Update your address with the IRS (Form 8822), your employer and your bank.
- Tell payroll where you live and physically work, and review withholding for every state that may tax your pay, including California. Keeping a job in another state, commuting, remote-work sourcing rules or income earned before the move can leave an old-state obligation. A new address alone does not mean all old-state withholding should stop. See moving-year tax guidance and your states' official instructions.
- Set up utilities and get renters or homeowners insurance. Owners with a mortgage here paid a median $1,473 a year for homeowners insurance in 2024 (Census ACS); premiums have risen in most states since, so get quotes.
- Keep your lease or closing papers and your license date as proof of when you became a resident.
Still planning the move itself? The moving out of state checklist covers the weeks before you go, and the moving timeline turns your move date into dated deadlines. Our guide to moving with pets covers vet records, travel and local pet rules. Shipping a car? See shipping a car to another state, or take the Where should I move? quiz.
Official site: dmv.ca.gov. Sources: dmv.ca.gov (2), dmv.ca.gov (3), dmv.ca.gov (4), dmv.ca.gov (5), leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, cdtfa.ca.gov. Reviewed 2026-09-25. Rules and fees change; confirm with the California motor vehicle agency before you go.
Compare your move to California
Pick the state you're leaving and your salary to see your take-home pay, rent and the salary that keeps your buying power the same in California.
Equal salary in CA: $102,100
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $102,100 in California to match $80,000 in Texas ($22,100 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary, standard deduction.
The renter figure uses ACS gross rent, which includes tenant-paid electricity, gas, water/sewer and fuels. The buyer figure adds electricity separately to mortgage, property tax and insurance. Food, transport, healthcare, other spending and one-time moving costs are excluded. These are selected-cost changes, not total savings. State medians may differ from your neighborhood and current quotes.
| Tax on $80,000 | Texas | California |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $8,770 | $8,770 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $6,120 | $6,120 |
| State income tax | $0 | $3,065 |
| State payroll programs (UI, disability, paid leave, transit) | $0 | $1,040 |
| Take-home pay | $65,110 | $61,005 |
Full reports for the most common moves to California: Texas to California, New York to California, Washington to California, Arizona to California, Nevada to California and Florida to California.
Living in California: costs, taxes and risk
Of the 51 (the 50 states and D.C.), California is in the best 10 for household income, and in the worst 10 for overall prices, rent, modeled natural hazard county-score means, cost to own a home and state income tax.
- Median rent
- $2,104/mo U.S. $1,487
- Cost to own the median home
- $4,711/mo U.S. $2,354
- Take-home on $100,000
- $72,969 $2,109 less than in the median state
- Property tax (effective)
- 0.71% median $5,369/yr
- County-score mean
- 98.8 of 100 Very high county-score mean
- Moved in from other states
- 252,863 households, IRS 2022–2023
Pros and cons of living in California
How California ranks among all 51 (the 50 states and D.C.) on 11 measures of costs, taxes, risk and income. Top 10 means among the 10 best for someone moving in, Bottom 10 among the 10 worst.
Where California ranks best
- Top 10 Highest household incomes: $100,149 median household income (Census ACS 2024), 6th highest of 51.
Where California ranks worst
- Bottom 5 Highest overall prices: price level 110.7 (U.S. = 100, BEA 2024), the highest of 51.
- Bottom 5 Highest rent: $2,104 a month at the median (Census ACS 2024), the highest of 51.
- Bottom 5 Highest modeled county-score means: Population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores: 98.8 of 100, the highest of 51.
- Bottom 5 Highest cost to own a home: $4,711 a month for the median home with 20% down, 2nd highest of 51.
- Bottom 10 Highest state income tax: $4,911 on a $100,000 salary, 10th highest of 51.
Measures: state income tax, overall prices, rent, cost to own a home, property tax rate, homeowners insurance, electric bills, car insurance, health premiums, modeled natural hazard county-score means, household income. State income tax is for a single filer earning $100,000 under 2026 rules, including the average county income tax in Indiana and Maryland. Ties share a rank.
Where new California residents come from
In the latest IRS migration data (2022–2023), 252,863 households filed their taxes in California after filing in another state the year before. Texas sent the most, 24,970 households (10% of the total). California lost a net 100,397 households to other states that year.
Five-year trend
Moves to California from other states peaked in 2021–22 at 254,935 households, then held roughly steady to 252,863 in 2022–23, up 2% from 2018–19. California lost households to other states on net in all five years.
IRS SOI state-to-state migration files, tax years 2018–19 to 2022–23. Net gain or loss by year: 2018–19 −71,547, 2019–20 −117,475, 2020–21 −158,220, 2021–22 −144,203, 2022–23 −100,397.
Cost of living in California vs the U.S.
Overall prices in California are 10.7% above the U.S. average, the most expensive of 51. The widest gap is in utilities (158.9), 59% above the U.S. level.
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024.
- Average electric bill
- $155/mo U.S. $151
- Car insurance, per car
- $1,225/yr U.S. $1,282
- Health plan, age 40
- $570/mo U.S. $625
EIA 2025 average residential bills, NAIC 2023 average auto insurance expenditure, KFF 2026 benchmark silver Marketplace premium before subsidies.
Taxes in California: take-home pay at three incomes
California taxes wages. Workers also pay about $1,300 a year in state payroll programs at $100,000, which the take-home figures include. Here is what a single filer keeps after 2026 federal and state taxes, compared with the middle of all 51.
| Salary | CA income tax | Take-home | vs. median state |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $973 | $40,732 | -$46 |
| $100,000 | $4,911 | $72,969 | -$2,109 |
| $150,000 | $9,561 | $102,280 | -$5,306 |
Single filer, 2026 tax rules, standard deduction. Take-home is after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California income and payroll taxes. "vs. median state" is the difference from the median take-home of all 51 at the same salary. For married filing jointly, change the filing status in the calculator above.
The statewide sales tax rate is 7.25% before any local sales taxes. Homeowners pay a median $5,369 a year in property tax, 0.71% of the median home value (property tax by county). Retiring? See how California taxes Social Security and pensions. Moving mid-year? Read about taxes the year you move.
Cities in California: where a paycheck goes furthest
Of the 14 California metro areas we cover, Bakersfield is the best value: about $81,900 there buys what $75,000 buys in an average-priced area with no state income tax. San Francisco takes the most, $97,000.
| Metro area | Salary to match $75k | Price level | Median rent | Median home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | $81,900 | 100.9 | $1,479 | $363,600 |
| Fresno | $83,200 | 102.2 | $1,513 | $416,200 |
| Stockton | $86,200 | 105.1 | $1,788 | $562,500 |
| Riverside | $87,600 | 106.4 | $2,006 | $579,500 |
| Sacramento | $87,900 | 106.7 | $1,904 | $605,500 |
| Santa Rosa | $89,000 | 107.8 | $2,229 | $822,400 |
| Vallejo | $89,700 | 108.5 | $2,223 | $629,700 |
| Santa Barbara | $90,000 | 108.8 | $2,108 | $900,900 |
| Salinas | $90,200 | 109.0 | $2,007 | $808,600 |
| San Jose | $91,700 | 110.4 | $2,827 | $1,528,500 |
| Oxnard | $91,800 | 110.5 | $2,313 | $869,300 |
| San Diego | $93,200 | 111.9 | $2,336 | $914,700 |
| Los Angeles | $95,000 | 113.6 | $2,114 | $908,500 |
| San Francisco | $97,000 | 115.6 | $2,435 | $1,132,900 |
Salary to match $75k: the pay that leaves the same after-tax, price-adjusted income as $75,000 in an area at U.S. average prices with no state income tax, single filer, including the principal city's own income tax where it has one. BEA 2024 price levels (U.S. = 100) and Census ACS 2024 rent and home values for each metro area.
Housing and home insurance in California
| Measure | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Median rent (monthly) | $2,104 | $1,487 |
| Median home value | $759,500 | $360,600 |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $4,711 | $2,354 |
| Income needed to buy the median home | $201,898 | $100,903 |
| Median property tax (yearly) | $5,369 | $3,211 |
| Homeowners insurance (yearly median, homes with a mortgage) | $1,473 | $1,450 |
Census ACS 2024 rent, home value and property tax, and ACS 2024 homeowners insurance. Cost to own: principal and interest at the Freddie Mac 30-year average (7.24%) with 20% down, plus the median property tax and the median homeowners insurance paid by owners with a mortgage. Premiums have risen since 2024, especially in high-risk areas, so get quotes. See buying a home in California for other down payments.
Natural disaster risk in California
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for California is 98.8 of 100 (very high county-score mean), ranked 51 of 51 from lowest to highest mean. This is not an official FEMA state rating or a national state percentile, and it does not predict whether a particular home is safe. Modeled expected losses from natural hazards average about $765 per resident a year, and about 94% of residents live in counties FEMA rates relatively high or very high.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
See disaster risk for every California county and how to check a home's risk before you move.
Frequently asked questions
Where do people moving to California come from?
In IRS migration data for 2022–2023, 252,863 households moved to California from other states. The most came from Texas (24,970 households), New York (18,440) and Washington (17,871).
What are the pros and cons of living in California?
Where California ranks best among the 50 states and D.C.: highest household incomes, 6th highest of 51. Where it ranks worst: highest overall prices, the highest of 51; highest rent, the highest of 51; highest modeled county-score means, the highest of 51; highest cost to own a home, 2nd highest of 51; highest state income tax, 10th highest of 51.
Is California expensive to live in?
Overall prices in California are 10.7% above the U.S. average (BEA price level 110.7, 2024), the most expensive of 51. Median rent is $2,104 a month and the median home is worth $759,500.
How long do I have to get a California driver license after moving?
10 days after becoming a resident. Out-of-state license valid only 10 days after establishing residency (Vehicle Code 12505); vision exam and knowledge test required, drive test generally waived with a valid out-of-state license.
How long do I have to register my car in California?
20 days. Register within 20 days of becoming a resident or getting a job in CA. Requires VIN verification (REG 31) and a California smog certificate for most gas vehicles 1976+ and diesels 1998+.
Do new residents pay tax on a car brought to California?
Use tax (state + local rate) may be due if the vehicle was bought outside CA and brought in within 12 months of purchase; the presumption can be rebutted with proof of out-of-state use. Vehicles owned longer than 12 months pay no use tax.
What makes me a California resident?
You are a resident if you intend to live in California 6+ months in a year, or you take a job in the state.