It is accurate to say that California is a challenging place to live if you are not a millionaire. It is very difficult for median income families.  Median household income for California was $67,739 in 2016. Housing costs are among the highest in the nation. Gasoline is currently averaging $3.63 a gallon for regular. That gasoline price is matched only by Hawaii.

Despite those challenges California’s gross domestic product is only surpassed by the entire United States, China, Japan, and Germany.

The reason for this situation is the multiple economic engines.

-Silicon Valley: the area south of San Francisco is the home of Facebook, Alphabet previously known as Google, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Intel, Cisco Systems, Nvidia, Netflix, Tesla, and many less known tech companies.

-Hollywood: Really all of Los Angeles is the television and movie entertainment capital of the world. CBS, NBC Universal, Disney, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Brothers are all in metropolitan Los Angeles.

-Tourism: According to the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, 48.3 million tourists visited L.A. in 2017, an increase of more than 2 percent over 2016 and the seventh consecutive year of record-breaking results. The total number of visitors to San Francisco last year rose 2.3 percent to 16.9 million.

-Import and Distribution: The two largest ports in the United States are Long Beach and Los Angeles. 40% of all goods imported enter through those two ports. They are then moved to distribution warehouses in Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino.

-Agriculture: California produces a sizable majority of many American fruits, vegetables, and nuts: 99 percent of artichokes, 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots (and the list goes on. California is the leading US state for cash farm receipts. I have seen California strawberries in Toronto Canada.

-Manufacturing: Manufacturers help to drive California’s economy, with $142.39 billion in manufactured goods exports in 2016.

These are the reasons that nearly 40 million people see the state as the heart of economic opportunity.