California is one of the most affordable states for buying health insurance through marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” according to a new analysis.
The personal finance company WalletHub found that the average California household spends 5.84% of its income on these types of health insurance premiums. That’s among the best rates in the United States.
California ranked 42nd out of 50 in the company’s “States Where People Spend the Most and Least on Health Insurance” report, which took the average cost of a “silver” tier health insurance plan in each state and compared it to the median household income. Vermont ranked 1st, with about 20% of a household’s income going to health insurance.
“Inflation has driven up health insurance premiums significantly in recent years, making it harder and harder for Americans to afford proper health care,” Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst, said in the July 10 report. “People in certain states feel the pressure of high premiums more than others, as they can cost as much as 20% of the median income in some states and as little as 4% in others.”
Here’s what to know about the report and California’s ranking compared to the rest of the nation.
How much is health insurance in California?
WalletHub’s analysis drew on state-level health insurance marketplace information shared by the Kaiser Family Foundation and U.S. Census Bureau income data.
The average lowest-cost silver plan premium in California was $469 per month in 2025, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website. The median household income in California in 2023 dollars was $96,334, according to Census Bureau data.
Silver health plans have moderately sized deductibles and are usually coupled with “fairly low” premiums, the report stated.
In California, the cost of this type of health plan amounts to 5.84% of the median household income in the state, the report found.
According to the report, the only states where people spend a smaller share of their income on these types of plans were:
- New Jersey (5.72%)
- Rhode Island (5.61%)
- Washington (5.26%)
- Massachusetts (4.96%)
- Minnesota (4.87%)
- Virginia (4.85%)
- Maryland (4.27%)
- New Hampshire (4.02%)
Most people (59%) in California get health insurance through their jobs and not the individual marketplace, according to recent studies. However, about 2 million people bought insurance through the state’s marketplace, and about 89% qualified for federal subsidies or tax credits.
Where does health insurance cost the most?
The report found that the average monthly cost of a silver health plan in Vermont is $1,275, which is the most expensive in the country, according to data shared by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Even though Vermont has a median household income of $78,024 – the 19th highest in the country – people in Vermont spend a “disproportionate amount” of their income on health insurance, the report stated.
“The average Vermonter shells out nearly 20% of their income on health insurance premiums,” according to the report. “For comparison, residents of neighboring New Hampshire only spend an average of 4% of their income on insurance.”
Vermont’s healthcare costs are driven by high marketplace premiums—over 140% above the national average—and the highest employee contributions for employer-sponsored insurance, according to a March 2025 report from Vermont Public Radio. Limited competition due to hospital consolidation and costly regulatory mandates also push prices higher.
In West Virginia, the cost of insurance as a percentage of median monthly household income was 18.81%, according to the report. In Alaska, it was 13.97%.
“Alaska residents pay the second-highest monthly health insurance premiums in the country, at $1,040,” the report stated. “These premiums are so high that even having the 12th-highest median household income ($89,336) doesn’t do much to alleviate Alaskans’ struggles.”