Six figures is low income in Orange, Santa Barbara, San Diego counties

A home for sale sign in front of a house in Huntington Beach.

May 18, 2025 6:30 AM PT

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Saying that housing in California is expensive isn’t much of a revelation.

However, defining what constitutes “low-income” due to housing affordability is changing.

Three Southern California counties are soon to surpass the $100,000 annual salary threshold for a low-income single-person household in California, if current trends continue.

That evaluation is according to data published by the California Department of Housing and Community Development in April.

My colleagues Terry Castleman and Kaitlyn Huamani documented how Orange, Santa Barbara and San Diego counties are joining three Bay Area counties in hitting that standard. They also break down what that means for homeowners, renters and others.

When six figures isn’t enough

California defines income levels by how they compare with the area’s median income.

In areas with unusually low or high housing costs, however, those definitions are often tweaked to reflect the reality for area residents.

That allows for the scenarios where someone earning $100,000 could be above the area’s median income line but also be considered low-income because of the high cost of housing.

A number of government programs use these income designations to determine who qualifies for benefits such as housing assistance.

Map shows that San Bernardino, Riverside and Santa Barbara counties had the highest percentage gain in their low-income thresholds- 48%.

The home of affluence

The three Southern California counties share one thing in common: soaring home values, even by California’s lofty standards.

In Santa Barbara County, the low-income threshold increased 48% from 2020 to 2025, ending up at $98,850.

Orange County saw a more modest 32% five-year increase to $94,750.

San Diego County was not far behind, with a 43% hike in the low-income threshold to $92,700.

If current growth rates continue, each of these counties would see their thresholds for what qualifies as low-income for a single person cross the six-figure mark before the next assessment.

They would join Northern California’s Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, which all crossed the six-figure threshold in 2025, as first reported by SFGate.

It wasn’t always this way

In 2000, before the state housing crisis was in the forefront of people’s minds, low-income households were far less common.

A Times review of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data showed that no cities and counties in California had 50% or more of families qualify as low-income households.

Orange, Santa Barbara and San Diego counties have Southern California’s priciest real estate, according to data from the California Assn. of Realtors.

In each county, the median single-family home sale price in March 2025 was over $1 million. In Orange and Santa Barbara counties, the price approached $1.5 million.

What do residents feel?

Despite proposed legislation to help make California a more affordable place to live, voters in the state are growing increasingly pessimistic about their financial future, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times.

Nearly half of California voters feel worse off than they were last year, and 54% felt less hopeful about their economic well-being.

Jett Murdock, 26, shares a two-bedroom apartment with three other men in Huntington Beach. The split bedrooms help to keep costs down, with each roommate paying about $725 a month in rent. But Murdoch said he still feels the squeeze of rising living costs.

The computer science student at Orange Coast College works at a catering company to support himself through school.

After graduation, Murdock doesn’t plan to stay in Orange County for long, as he said he’s seen how difficult it is to live comfortably on a single salary.

“I’d much prefer to move out of state,” the Idaho native said. “Just so that dollar goes a lot further. I’d much rather live somewhere else with lower living expenses.”

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