Thinking about moving to California? A recent nationwide study suggests you may want to take a closer look before making the leap.

ConsumerAffairs has released its latest ranking of the best and worst U.S. states for relocation, and California once again finds itself near the bottom of the list. The state ranks 48th out of 50, the same position it held in the previous report. Only Louisiana and New Mexico received lower overall scores.

The ranking follows another recent study by WalletHub, which found that six California cities are among the least educated in the United States.

To determine the rankings, ConsumerAffairs evaluated every state using five main categories: affordability, public safety, economic strength, healthcare and education, and overall quality of life.

California performed especially poorly in affordability, finishing last in the nation. It also ranked 49th for safety and 41st for economic strength. However, stronger results in healthcare and education (23rd) and in quality of life (14th) helped prevent the state from being placed at the very bottom of the overall list.

According to the report, California's high cost of living remains one of its biggest disadvantages. Housing expenses are particularly significant, with typical housing costs consuming about 21.1% of the state's median household income, well above the national average of 17.6%.

The study also notes that everyday living expenses in California are approximately 10.7% higher than the U.S. average, making routine purchases and services more expensive than in most other states.

Although California scores well in areas such as healthcare, education, and lifestyle, the report highlights that many of the lowest-ranked states struggle with poor quality of life and weaker healthcare and education systems. Seven of the ten lowest-ranked states received low quality-of-life scores, while eight ranked poorly in healthcare and education.

Safety was another area of concern for California. The report lists the state as having the highest crime rate among all states included in the study, citing 4.9 violent crimes and 20.78 property crimes per 1,000 residents. For comparison, the national averages are 3.6 violent crimes and 17.6 property crimes per 1,000 people.

At the opposite end of the rankings, New Hampshire claimed the title of the best state to relocate to, moving up from second place in last year's report. Utah, which topped the previous list, slipped to second. Idaho, Virginia, and Maine completed the top five, while Oklahoma and Arkansas joined California, Louisiana, and New Mexico among the five lowest-ranked states for relocation.