Thanks! So...everything was more expensive in Californy even back then!
Being a former Californian, prices and wages were much higher in California during the 1850s.
Nowadays, wages there seem to be the same as any other state I'm in but the cost of living is ridiculous. If I traded my house in Arizona for an apartment in LA, I'd be packing my family into a 1-bedroom cigar box. I try to stay away from the place.
-Dave