Gov. Newsom was elected in 2018 and sworn in on Jan. 7, 2019. Gavin Newsom is now serving a 2nd consecutive term; the current term began Jan. 2023. The scored record above covers California's outcomes during this continuous service, lagged per category (each category's lag was fixed before scoring).
Governors › California
California Under Gavin Newsom
Democratic · Sworn in Jan. 7, 2019 · Now in 2nd term
California has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Newsom — No. 6 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories.
Gavin Newsom
California · Democratic · since Jan. 2019 · 2nd term
Overall · citizen-weighted
No. 6 of 29
+0.17σ · 16 of 20 categories
equal-weight: +0.26σ · weighting hurts
| Category | Latest | Score vs. peers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honesty | — | In human review | |
| Spending discipline | — | Rubric in development | |
| Education scale score | 268.8 ’24 | −0.28σ* | |
| Air quality AQI | 46.5 ’24 | +1.15σ | |
| Water quality % of community systems | 3.6 ’25 | +0.70σ | |
| Unemployment % | 5.5 ’25 | −0.08σ | |
| Health coverage % of adults 18-64 | 9.0 ’24 | +0.52σ | |
| Tax burden % of personal income | 7.8 ’24 | −0.40σ | |
| Energy cost cents/kWh | 32.0 ’24 | −2.50σ | |
| Cost of living index, US=100 | 110.7 ’24 | +0.51σ | |
| Crime deaths per 100,000 | 4.5 ’24 | +0.43σ | |
| Teen births per 1,000 females 15-19 | 8.7 ’24 | +0.47σ | |
| Wellbeing mean days of past 30 | 4.7 ’24 | +0.07σ | |
| School food quality | — | Rubric in development | |
| School shootings | 3 ’24 | Context · 39/10yr | |
| Obesity % of adults | 29.1 ’24 | −0.45σ | |
| Early literacy % of 4th graders | 43.7 ’24 | −0.19σ* | |
| Gun deaths deaths per 100,000 (age-adjusted) | 7 ’24 | +1.31σ | |
| Food-aid access index (higher = easier access) | 0.9 ’23 | +1.74σ | |
| Jobless-benefit access % of unemployed receiving UI | 37.5 ’24 | +0.64σ |
Data transparency — 100% of state-run reporting delivered this tenureFull reporting
Scores are trends vs. the other 49 states over this governor’s window, in σ; *thin data (under 3 points). Tap ? on any row for what it measures, its chart, and the source. All provisional while the term runs. Methodology v2.1
Unemployment Rate, 2010–2025
California against all 49 other states California 50-state median Other 49 states Scored window
Annual-average unemployment rate — the longest-running series on the card, charted in full. The shaded band is its scored window: it opens one year after inauguration and tracks through the newest published data. The dashed line is the 50-state median, shown for context; scoring uses the median of the other 49 states. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The Record
Show the Work
every published number, reproducible| Education (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | −0.28σ · window 2021–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state −0.2%/yr vs peers −0.1%/yr |
| Air quality (EPA AirData) | +1.15σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −1.6%/yr vs peers +0.9%/yr |
| Water quality (EPA SDWIS/ECHO) | +0.70σ · window 2020–2025 (6 pts) · state −0.3%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Unemployment (BLS LAUS) | −0.08σ · window 2020–2025 (6 pts) · state −10.6%/yr vs peers −10.9%/yr |
| Health coverage (CDC BRFSS) | +0.52σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −8.7%/yr vs peers −6.3%/yr |
| Tax burden (Census STC ÷ BEA personal income) | −0.40σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +1.9%/yr vs peers +1.0%/yr |
| Energy cost (EIA) | −2.50σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +12.2%/yr vs peers +4.8%/yr · pre-cap −2.74σ |
| Cost of living (BEA) | +0.51σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −0.2%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Crime (CDC WONDER) | +0.43σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −8.0%/yr vs peers −5.9%/yr |
| Teen births (CDC WONDER) | +0.47σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −5.4%/yr vs peers −4.6%/yr |
| Wellbeing (CDC BRFSS) | +0.07σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +3.3%/yr vs peers +3.4%/yr |
| Obesity (CDC BRFSS) | −0.45σ · window 2021–2024 (4 pts) · state +1.4%/yr vs peers +0.7%/yr |
| Early literacy (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | −0.19σ · window 2021–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state +2.5%/yr vs peers +1.8%/yr |
| Gun deaths (CDC WONDER) | +1.31σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −4.9%/yr vs peers −1.4%/yr |
| Food-aid access (USDA FNS) | +1.74σ · window 2020–2023 (3 pts) · state +12.0%/yr vs peers +0.9%/yr |
| Jobless-benefit access (US DOL ETA) | +0.64σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −17.1%/yr vs peers −22.3%/yr |
| Overall (mean of domain scores) | +0.17σ · economy −0.69 · health +0.15 · environment +0.93 · public_safety +0.87 · education −0.23 · social_services +1.19 · fiscal −0.40 |
| Methodology | v2.1, preregistered — directions and lags fixed before scoring; full dataset at /pwr.json |
Every score is a fitted log-linear trend over that category’s window, minus the median trend of the other 49 states, standardized by the spread across states (σ) and capped at ±2.5. Positive always means “moved better than peers” under the category’s preregistered direction.
Cite this
California has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Newsom — No. 6 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories. — Political Grades, methodology v2.1, data through 2025. Provisional; trend-vs-peers scoring; relative movement, not causation.