People across the country complain about paying $5,000–$10,000 a year in property taxes.

In California, between property taxes and HOA fees, I pay roughly $45,000 a year just to own my home. Add gas, electric, water, insurance, and maintenance, and it is closer to $48,000 annually.
That is nearly $4,000 a month in post-tax income before food, transportation, healthcare, or anything else.
How is the average working person supposed to afford that? Most cannot.
And it genuinely makes me wonder how undocumented immigrants survive in California, one of the most expensive places in the country, especially on low wages. The math seems impossible without shared housing, multiple incomes, government assistance, informal work, or an extremely low standard of living.