In California, the top 1% pay half of all taxes. But it goes deeper than that. In the first half of 2024, nearly 10% of California’s income tax came from stock gains tied to just four tech giants—Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple. This shows how much wealth these few companies are creating, especially through stock-based pay to employees. California’s tax system heavily depends on income from wealthy individuals, many of whom work in tech and earn big when stock prices rise. While this brings in a lot of money when the market is booming, it also makes the state’s finances vulnerable if tech stocks drop.

Source: IA