California (Poverty And Taxes) And Texas (Jobs And Freedom): A Few Key Comparisons

One in every five Americans call California or Texas home. Comparisons between the two most-populous states are useful because both states have diverse populations and economies, but vastly different politics. That, in turn, leads to divergent public policies in taxation and regulation—with very different outcomes.

Demographically, California and Texas both feature minority-majority populations, with the future face of America looking somewhat like a blend between the two states, if current immigration and birthrate trends persist. Along with Hawaii and New Mexico, the white, non-Hispanic population in California and Texas is well below half (though if the two most affluent demographic groups, white, non-Hispanics and Asians are considered together, they total 52.4% in California and 47% in Texas).

Yet in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton won California by 30% of the vote while Donald Trump won Texas by 9%, indicating that destiny isn’t entirely explained by demographics. Meanwhile, after the 2018 midterms, of California’s 53-member delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, 46 are Democrats compared to 7 Republicans. Of Texas’ 36-member Congressional delegation, 23 are Republican and 13 are Democrats.