A Comparison and Contrast between California, Hawaii, Florida, New York and New Jersey

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A Comparison and Contrast between California, Hawaii, Florida, New York and New Jersey
Introduction
The United States of America is one of the most diverse nations of the world. Notably,
the nation boasts as the home to 50 different states. In this paper, California, Florida, New York,
Hawaii and New Jersey shall be compared and contrasted with respect to various economic
measures. In a nutshell, the main economic measures include the Gross State product each state,
size of population, Consumer Price Index, labor force, Per Capita Income, unemployment rate,
and homeownership rates among others.
Analysis
Population size
Firstly, it is worth pointing out that the five states have different population. Specifically,
California is the most populous with a population of approximately 39.8 million people (US
Spending). The second most populated state is Florida at 21.3 million followed by New York at
19.9 million residents. On the other hand, New Jersey and Hawaii have the least population rates
at 9 million and 1.4 million respectively (US Spending).
GDP Size

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Just like these states differ in the size of their population, there are also disparities in the
size of their Gross State Products. Particularly, California has the largest GDP estimated at
$2,845.40 billion followed by New York at $1693.5 billion. The third largest state by GDP is
Florida with $1017.2 billion followed by New Jersey with a GDP of $626.40billion (US
Spending). Lastly, Hawaii has the smallest GDP estimated at 91.4 billion (US Spending).
Labor Force
It is noteworthy that the states have different labour force sizes. Particularly, California
has a significantly larger labour force than the rest of the states estimated at 19.3 million (Bureau
of Labour Statistics). The second largest labor force is found in Florida at 10.1 million people.
New York, New Jersey and Hawaii have smaller labor forces estimated at 9.6, 4.48 and 0.68
million in that order.
Per Capita Income
Apart from the disparities in population and GDP size, the five states also have different
Per Capita Income. Characteristically, New York has the highest per capita income level
followed by Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey and California respectively (Bureau of Labor
Statistics). At this point, one may argue that the per capita income in California is the lowest due
to the fact the state has the highest population size and, an equally high rate of unemployment.
Unemployment rate
Furthermore, the five states have different levels of unemployment rates. At the moment,
New Jersey has the highest level of unemployment that is estimated at 5 percent followed by
New York at 4.60 percent. The joblessness rate in California is 4.30 percent. Florida and Hawaii

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have low joblessness rates estimated at 3.7 and 2 percent respectively (Bureau of Labor
Statistics).
Consumer Price Index levels
Further, it is worth pointing out that the various states have different price index levels.
Currently, the most expensive state to live in is Hawaii because it has a CPI Index estimated at
273.2. It is followed by New York and New Jersey at 269, then California at 265.6. Thus, as of
now the cheapest state to live in is Florida which has a CPI Index of 246.5 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics).
People below Poverty Line
What is more, the states have different levels of individuals who live below the poverty
line. Predominantly, Florida has the highest number of individuals who live below the poverty
index, followed by California. With regard to the other four states, New York is ranked as the
third state with the highest number of individuals below the poverty line, followed by New
Jersey and Hawaii respectively (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Top 3 Occupations with Most Employees
Outstandingly, the popularity of various occupations across the five states is almost
similar. Specifically, occupations such as retail sales, cashiers and office clerks are among the
most popular jobs in the five states and, as a result, have the highest number of employees
working in them (Kolmar). For instance, the position of retail salespersons is the topmost
populous occupation across all the five states.
Top 3 Most Paying Occupations