If California was a separate nation its GDP would be eighth highest in the world, just behind Brazil, and ahead of such notable countries such as India, Italy, Russia, and Canada. Not only that, there are only three countries outside of the USA that are at a minimum double the GDP of California, which are China, Japan, and Germany. California is also one of the few States, perhaps the only State, to which it is or could easily be self-sufficient in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, healthcare, biotechnology, hi-technology, and has the two biggest usage ports in America. Additionally, California has not only the Pacific Ocean, but mountains such as Mount Whitney at nearly 15,000 feet, and rivers such as the Sacramento River, as well as Lake Tahoe. In addition, California has the University of California school system, which is the most highly rated aggregate public university school system in America, to which some of these campuses are amongst the very best universities in the world. It's fair to say that California has it all, but when you look at California, there is an ever-widening gap between those that are superrich and the super-poor.
California has 111 billionaires, trailing only three other countries in this category, excluding America, itself. On the other hand, as reported by ppic.org, "All told, 40.8% of state residents were poor or near poor in 2013." As reported by 247wallst.com, "… roughly one in 10 California homes are worth more than $1 million," which goes along with the fact also reported by 247wallst.com that 8.1% of households in California, make $200,000 or more annually. Additionally, as reported by ppic.org, "In 2013, 78% of poor Californians lived in families with at least one adult working…" indicating, that the poor are poor in California, not because they don't work, but because the cost of living is so high in comparison to their paltry wages, in addition to the fact that the average household size in California, is the 2nd highest in America, meaning that there are more mouths to be fed and bodies to be sheltered in living quarters that are often priced beyond their means.
In point of fact, although California doesn't want to own up to it, part of the reason why the superrich are so rich in California, has to do with the fact that the powerless, the disenfranchised, the undocumented, and the ill-educated people of California are exploited by the rich. That is to say, for instance, if you need landscaping or home repair work accomplished, many Californians avail themselves of the opportunity to select and negotiate with someone looking for such work in order to save money. So too this is done again and again when it comes to child care services, maids, restaurant employees, janitors, agricultural laborers, and so forth, to which the owners or managers of such, utilize cheap labor to lower their costs and thereby to increase their profits on the backs of those that need employment and have little or no negotiating power.
Superrich Californians never both to ask themselves why there are so many impoverished people in California, because they really don't want to know the truth of the answer, but the truth is, the rich need the poor so as to have plenty of labor to both serve as well as to service them, and care little of how the super-poor live and are treated, because they don't want to be bothered with troubling little details like that.