It’s the season of giving — but for California families, it’s also the season of paying more. New data shows Californians are facing some of the highest Christmas costs in the nation, from trees and decorations to travel and dinner — even as prices cool elsewhere in the U.S.
“Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have turned Christmas into a luxury in California,” says Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California. “Their taxes, mandates, and regulations drive up the cost of everything — from the tree you decorate to the fuel you need to visit family.”
California’s Christmas Taxes
- Christmas Tree Tax: A new study from Sixt shows that a 6-foot-tall live Christmas tree from a local farm costs $155 on average in California, $75 more than the national average. A gap driven by higher shipping, labor, and regulatory costs unique to the state.
- Christmas Location Tax: A recent analysis of food, décor, and tree costs by JB.com finds that the three most expensive cities to host Christmas are all in California — San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego — underscoring how far holiday budgets must stretch here.
- Christmas Dinner Tax: Worse, the study finds that the average Christmas dinner cost for six people — including typical staples like meat, potatoes, greens, onions, bottles of wine, milk, eggs, bread, and soft drinks — in San Francisco is a staggering $181! That’s far more than California’s Thanksgiving dinner cost of $72.61, which was also the highest in the country. And for ten people instead of six!
- Christmas Travel Tax: Heading over the river and through the woods isn’t cheap — California gas prices remain higher than the national average heading into peak Christmas travel. As of Friday, December 19th, fuel prices across the nation averaged about $2.88, but in California, that average sat at $4.32! This is thanks to California’s high gas taxes (which include a gas tax, sales tax, and various other taxes and fees) and extra regulatory requirements.
- Christmas Lights Tax: California’s nation-leading utility rates mean decorating and cooking cost more here. California's electricity rates are much higher than the national average — often double or more — with recent averages around 30-32 cents/kWh compared to the U.S. average of 17-20 cents/kWh. This is thanks to green new deal clean energy mandates, aging infrastructure, and regulatory costs.
- Christmas Cookie Tax: Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS') Consumer Price Index and a recipe for sugar cookies from AllRecipes.com, the cost of a batch of sugar cookies, a glass of milk, and carrots for reindeer is about 7.5% more expensive in California ($9.07) than the national average ($8.44).
DeMaio says the through-line is policy. “Newsom’s trucking and shipping rules, energy mandates, and gas tax hikes ripple through every supply chain,” DeMaio explains. “By the time a Christmas tree or a bag of flour gets to a California shelf, families are paying a Sacramento surcharge on top of inflation.”
But DeMaio says it's not just the cost of those items that Americans are suffering from this holiday season, and he points to a recent report from the Transparency Foundation. The Foundation found that California’s cost-of-living penalty forces a typical middle class family to pay $29,753.16 more per year to live in California versus if they lived in a state with an average national cost of living.
“Prices are up for everything, especially in California — your energy bill from cooking, your gas and travel costs, costs of clothes and gifts — it goes on and on,” said DeMaio. “Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have only made California more expensive for its citizens while they coddle criminals and cause huge spikes in violent crime and homelessness — Newsom should be tackling these problems, not making them worse,” continued DeMaio.
That’s why Carl DeMaio and Reform California are fighting to make California more affordable by fighting against the constant tax hikes imposed by Gavin Newsom.
“We want a future where California families’ Christmas tables are full and their wallets aren't empty — so please join our fight today to make that a reality,” said DeMaio.
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