Latest news with #SiliconValleyPainIndex
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
American city named the fourth most 'impossibly unaffordable' in the world
In the heart of wealthy California, a city has been ranked the fourth most 'impossibly unaffordable' place on Earth - surpassed only by three major global metros. San Jose, a major city nestled among the rolling hills of Silicon Valley, was revealed as the most expensive large city in America - with a staggering $370,000 annual household income needed to live comfortably, according to this year's Silicon Valley Pain Index report. Its extreme cost of living isn't just astounding by US standards - it ranked as the fourth-most 'impossibly unaffordable' city on the planet, trailing only behind global heavyweights like Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver. According to the latest data from the Social Security Administration, the average salary in the U.S. is $66,622 - nearly 82 percent lower than the $370,000 annual income needed to live in San Jose. Even more shocking, the annual income needed to live comfortably has skyrocketed - rising by 54 percent in just a mere six years. The shock factor doesn't ease up for renters either - the income needed just to afford rent aligns almost exactly with what personal finance experts recommend you spend on a total housing budget. In 2024 alone, the median home price in Silicon Valley soared to an eye-watering $1.92 million. The shock factor doesn't ease up for renters either - the income needed just to afford rent aligns almost exactly with what personal finance experts recommend you spend on a total housing budget To afford even a temporary rental while staying within the recommended 30 percent income guideline, a renter would need to earn an eye-watering $136,532 a year. Nearly half of Silicon Valley's renters and homeowners are struggling, spending over 30 percent of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. The report - published by researchers at San Jose State University's Human Rights Institute - also revealed that Silicon Valley's wealth gap is growing twice as fast as the rest of the nation. Alarmingly, just nine households - making up a tiny 0.01 percent of the population - control 15 percent Silicon Valley's total wealth, according to data from the Silicon Valley Index. But 0.1 percent of Silicon Valley residents hold a staggering 71 percent of the region's wealth. Worryingly, 201,000 households in the region have less than $5,000 in savings or assets - barely enough to cover a major emergency. Experts pointed to soaring housing costs as a key reason San Jose was rapidly aging - meaning younger people and families moved away because living there had become too expensive, while older residents tended to stay put. To meet the state's housing goals, San Jose would have to build a staggering 7,775 homes every year until 2031 - more than four times the city's current annual record of 1,710. Nearly half of Silicon Valley's renters and homeowners are struggling, spending over 30 percent of their income just to keep a roof over their heads Experts pointed to soaring housing costs as a key reason San Jose was rapidly aging - meaning younger people and families moved away because living there had become too expensive, while older residents tended to stay put Beyond the sky-high prices, researchers labeled the region as America's '#1 in societal pain' - a term describing personal and community struggles that deeply harmed resident's quality of life But it's not just about money - it's about how these challenges impact everyday life and the overall health of the community. Beyond the sky-high prices, researchers labeled the region as America's '#1 in societal pain' - a term describing personal and community struggles that deeply harmed resident's quality of life. Some of the root causes of this distress included pay inequality affecting both women and people of color, widespread layoffs in the tech sector, a growing homeless population and rising rates of sexually transmitted infections and infant mortality, according to the report. In 2024, Silicon Valley experienced its highest infant mortality rate in five years. Black and African American babies in the region are over four times more likely to die before their first birthday than White babies (8.3 vs. 2.0 per 1,000 births). However, the report also highlighted some positive changes in the region, including a decrease in use-of-force incidents by the San Jose Police Department while on duty. Other positive developments include expanded services for homeless and housing-insecure residents, as well as new pilot programs launched by local officials to address challenges like homelessness among college students.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Report ranks San Jose as most expensive large city in the country
The cost of living in the Bay Area's largest city has become exceedingly expensive, according to a new report, which says it is now the most expensive large city in the entire country. The latest Silicon Valley Pain Index report, published by San Jose State University, reports that the average city renter needs to make more than $136,000 to keep their housing payments at 30% of their income. The report also says it's 81% more expensive to live in San Jose compared to the national average, meaning that for a median-priced home in San Jose, an annual household income of $370,000 is needed. Rapidly rising rents have made it beyond a challenge for hairstylist Cassie Cook to find a new apartment. "100% it's getting harder and harder," said Cook, who works full-time at "Cassie Cook Hair Designs" in West San Jose, where she works and rents a 1-bedroom for herself and two children. "For a regular apartment complex, it feels like there are ten other people with better credit, and a deposit to get into the same apartment as someone like me in the service industry," said Cook. The report also notes that the cost to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County has increased 90% over the past 10 years. "I can't afford to live here," said Cook. "I'm barely making it. Last month I was late on my rent." Besides rentals, the index report also highlights how the median home price in Silicon Valley reached $1.92 million in 2024. Michael Repka, CEO of DeLeon Realty, recently listed one home in Los Gatos for nearly $4 million. The house sold this week for more than $5 million, over $1 million above the asking price, with multiple bidders. "We're seeing strong demand in terms of home sales and also for rentals," said Repka. "Some people are finding it's too expensive or cost-prohibitive to buy homes because the interest rates are so high." City Councilmember Pamela Campos has been pushing for more affordable housing to prevent family homelessness. "The situation is dire, particularly for working families in San Jose who are under tremendous pressure because of these skyrocketing housing costs," said Campos, who currently lives with her parents. "We're seeing that many families cannot afford to stay." As rental prices continue to rise, it's a struggle for Cook. "That's the difficult part. Everyone is trying to save money when prices are becoming so expensive everywhere," said Cook. But she says there's no giving up, no matter how unaffordable the housing situation appears. City officials say more than 2,200 public school students currently face homelessness and that more families are in danger of being in the same situation.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Ultra-ritzy enclave where nine local families have collective wealth of $638 billion
Silicon Valley is the epicenter of America's tech hub, attracting many of the world's richest individuals and generating an estimated wealth of $638 billion. But now it has emerged that the eye-watering sum is shared between just nine families. And a new study conducted by San Jose State University concluded that the city's wealthiest households are only gaining wealth. Their collective net worth was up by a staggering $136 billion from 2024, according to the recent data. The annual report, titled the Silicon Valley Pain Index,is designed to measure 'personal and community distress' through data tracking structural inequalities in the region. Silicon Valley refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Santa Clara, San Mateo, the western edge of Alameda, and Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz. It represents a high concentration of wealth and can be an increasingly difficult place for working and middle-class families to make ends meet. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is among the ritzy residents, accounting for $253.5 billion of the area's wealth. Zuckerberg's net worth is more than 20 times the wealth of the bottom 446,505 households in the area. The Meta CEO purchased a five-house compound in the area, estimated to be worth a whopping $37million. He bought a $7 million mansion in 2011 before buying the neighboring residences to create the compound. The report also estimates that the region has $1.01 trillion of liquid wealth. Three companies based in Silicon Valley - Adobe, Alphabet (Google), and Meta comprise a combined net worth of $535 billion. Even outside of the nine wealthiest families, the annual income needed to afford just a median-priced house is $370,000, up 54 percent in the last six years, according to the report. The report also found that renters need to have an average annual income of $136,532 to afford an apartment at 30 percent of their take-home pay, representing the highest rents in the country. In San Mateo County, a household annual income of $156,650 for a family of four is considered 'low, ' compared to the state average of $94,500. Nearly 71 percent of homes sold in the area were priced around 1.92 million and were considered the 'median home price.' The median home price in Santa Clara alone was 2.171 million in May, which is a 3.4 percent increase from last year. The study doesn't explicitly state the nine families contributing to the mass concentration of wealth in addition to Zuckerberg, but listed Google's former CEO, Larry Page, as the second richest billionaire in the area. Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google with Page and served as the president of Alphabet, is the third-wealthiest billionaire in the region. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company, comes in fourth. Page and Zuckerberg live in Palo Alto, while Brin and Huang have properties in Los Altos Hills. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is listed as the fifth-wealthiest billionaire in the region, with Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook as the sixth. Financier George Roberts was listed seventh, while Laurence Powell Jobs of Apple came in eighth. Venture capitalist John Doerr came in ninth, and Charles Schwab of Charles Schwab brokerage ranked tenth. Silicon Valley is home to major enterprises including Apple, Alphabet, Chevron, Meta, Visa, and Wells Fargo. The companies employ a significant portion of residents in the region, leading to the high concentration of wealth from executives and engineers reporting high incomes. The success of these companies has solidified Silicon Valley as a wealthy enclave and the tech capital of the world, but the region has a long history of advancement. The silicon chip, which is used in computerized machinery, was invented in the region, and electronics reporter Dan Hoefler coined the name 'Silicon Valley' in 1971.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
This Bay Area city is the fourth-most ‘impossibly unaffordable' place on Earth
How much do you need to make to afford a house in the wealthiest part of Silicon Valley? For the median-priced home in San Jose, you'd need an annual household income of $370,000 — one of many eyebrow-raising findings in this year's 'Silicon Valley Pain Index,' an aggregate report of economic data about Santa Clara and San Mateo counties published by researchers at San Jose State University's Human Rights Institute. That $370,000 figure is up 54% from what it was just six years ago, the first year the 'Pain Index' was put together. If you're looking to rent, it's also steep: The average San Jose renter needs to bring in $136,532 to keep their payments at 30% of their income, which is the amount most personal finance experts recommend you budget for housing. The report says San Jose is the most expensive large city in America, and notes that researchers from Chapman University and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada named it the fourth-most 'impossibly unaffordable' city on Earth, surpassed only by Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver. The wealth divide has grown twice as fast in Silicon Valley compared to the rest of the country, the report says. Just nine households in the region — .01% of residents — hold 15% of all wealth, according to a part of the report citing data from the annual Silicon Valley Index. (Those nine are Mark Zuckerberg, Laurene Powell Jobs, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, Eric Schmidt, Jan Koum, George Roberts and Robert Pera.) Housing costs contribute in large part to why the Bay Area is aging so fast, experts say. Beyond the sky-high cost of living here, researchers write that the region is '#1 in societal pain.' It defines that pain as 'representative of both personal and community distress or suffering, resulting in negative impacts on a person's quality of life.' Some sources of that distress: pay inequality for women and people of color; high numbers of layoffs in the tech sector; increasing numbers of homeless people; and rising rates of sexually transmitted infections and infant mortality. The report does point out some ways in which the region is improving. The San Jose Police Department reports fewer use-of-force incidents. Services for homeless and housing-insecure people have been expanded. And local officials have launched some pilot programs to address problems like homeless college students and nutritional gaps for CalFresh recipients. 'We know, now more than ever, that it will take cross-sector collaboration to make gradual changes in alleviating the pain in our region,' the report reads. It's 81% more expensive to live in San Jose compared to the national average. Average monthly household expenses in San Jose are $3,504. 40% of renters and homeowners in Silicon Valley are considered cost-burdened by their housing, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on their rent or mortgage payment. 201,000 households in the region have less than $5,000 in assets. 1.8 million people in Santa Clara County face health risks due to poor air quality. The median home price in Silicon Valley reached $1.92 million in 2024. The cost to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County has increased 90% over the past 10 years. San Jose would need to build 7,775 homes every year between now and 2031 to meet the state's housing goals. The most homes that have ever been built in San Jose in a single year is 1,710.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Nine households control 15% of wealth in Silicon Valley as inequality widens
Economic inequality has reached a staggering milestone in Silicon Valley: just nine households hold 15% of the region's wealth, according to new research from San Jose State University. A mere 0.1% of residents hold 71% of the tech hub's wealth. The findings come from the 2025 'Silicon Valley Pain Index', a report published by SJSU's Human Rights Institute each year since 2020. The report aims to quantify 'structured inequalities' in Silicon Valley, and measures 'pain' as 'both personal and community distress or suffering'. This year's index reports that the wealth divide has widened in Silicon Valley at double the rate of the whole United States over the past decade. The nine wealthiest households in the valley control $683.2bn – a $136bn increase over the past year. At the same time, 110,000 households reported nearly none or no assets. The cost of living in Silicon Valley has risen as well: renters must earn $136,532 to afford an apartment – the highest in the nation. The report ranked San Jose No 4 in 'impossibly unaffordable' cities worldwide (after Hong Kong, Sydney and Vancouver). Yet, no cities in Silicon Valley have raised the minimum wage in the past three years. The report finds that 54,582 low-income households do not have access to an affordable home in San Jose and that homelessness grew 8.2% from 2023. When they created the Silicon Valley Pain Index in 2020, shortly after the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, San Jose State University researchers were inspired by the Katrina Pain Index, which aimed to quantify the injustices New Orleans residents faced after Hurricane Katrina. The index continues to show stark racial inequalities. Hispanic workers in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara can expect to make 33 cents for every $1 their white peers take home. And although shareholders have voiced commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, only 3% of employees working in research and development at Apple are Black (compared with 6% Hispanic/Latino, 36% white and 50% Asian). Meanwhile, police violence remains a real concern – even years after the Black Lives Matter protests. Ten people died in police custody in the Santa Clara county sheriff's office in 2024 – the highest in two decades. And San Jose reported five office involved shootings, up three from 2023. However, the report did note certain improvements in the Silicon Valley area – including a decrease in police use of force incidents in San Jose, an expansion in services to prevent homelessness and environmental sustainability programs.
