Sacks @ 01:01:08Wrong
economygovernment
Within the near future (“pretty soon”), the only remaining middle‑class Californians earning over $100,000 per year will mainly be government workers, because most private‑sector middle‑class earners will have left the state due to taxes and regulatory burden.
The only middle class is going to be left in California pretty soon. Uh, our government workers, I mean, that's it. That's the only people going to be making over $100,000 a year in California. Are the government workers, because everyone who's middle class, who's running a business is just is finding it too difficult and too difficult to earn with the level of taxation and to run their business. And they're. ... leaving.View on YouTube
Explanation
By late 2025, California still has a large private‑sector middle class earning above $100,000, so the prediction that "pretty soon" only government workers would be making over $100,000 in the state has not come true.
Key facts:
- In 2024 the median California household income was about $100,000, meaning roughly half of all households earn more than $100k.(usafacts.org) That is far more households than could plausibly be accounted for by government employees alone.
- In 2023 there were over 1.7 million private‑sector businesses in California, providing about 15.5 million jobs (86% of all jobs); the entire public sector (state, local, and federal) accounted for only about 2.5 million jobs (14%).(ppic.org) State civil‑service employees are just ~220,000 workers—about 1.2% of all employed Californians.(calhr.ca.gov) Even if every government worker earned over $100,000 (which is not the case), they could not possibly be the "only" people with six‑figure incomes.
- Many of California’s highest‑paying industries—technology, professional and technical services, finance, and much of health care—are private‑sector. Average weekly earnings for California’s private‑sector workers are around $1,300–$1,400 (roughly $70k+ annually), and in major counties like Santa Clara, average weekly wages exceed $4,000 (over $200k annually).(usafacts.org) This implies millions of private‑sector workers earning well above $100k.
- Despite significant out‑migration (about 800,000 people leaving the state in 2022), IRS data show that the number of Californians making $1 million or more annually actually increased by about 66% from 2019 to 2021, and 116,000 new millionaires appeared over that period.(californiaglobe.com) That is inconsistent with a collapse of the private‑sector upper‑ and middle‑income population.
Given that (1) the time horizon implicit in "pretty soon" (stated in early 2021) has clearly passed by late 2025, and (2) data show that six‑figure earners in California are still overwhelmingly in the private sector, not concentrated mainly in government jobs, the prediction is best characterized as incorrect.