California State Poverty Level 2024. Calfresh benefits can be used to buy most groceries and some prepared food at participating vendors, which include most grocery and convenience stores. Adjusted for cost of living, the state has had the nation’s highest poverty rate since 2011, when the census bureau introduced a new way of gauging the cost of living.

More official and spm rates by states and by major age categories can be found in today’s release. Maine had one of the lowest spm poverty rates (5.9%) and california had one of the highest (15.4%).