Nearly one in four Californians live in poverty, a higher fraction than in any other state, according to U.S. Census figures released this week that take into account the high cost of housing and other basic needs in places like San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

The bureau’s new supplemental poverty estimates, which differ from the standard poverty measure by factoring in cost of living as well as certain welfare benefits, seek to create a more realistic picture of how people are faring financially.

While California’s 38.3 million residents generally make more money their counterparts elsewhere, rent, taxes and medical expenses can pile up a lot more quickly. A standard comparison of incomes — as related in the 50-year-old standard poverty rate — doesn’t do justice to the Golden State’s high costs.

The alternative measure lists California’s 2013 poverty rate as 23.4 percent, topping the District of Columbia’s 22.4 percent, the nation’s second-highest rate, and Nevada’s 20 percent.

The California rate is virtually unchanged since the bureau began offering the supplemental measure four years ago. The state has consistently been at the top. And, as expected, the new measure shows many more people in pricey areas, such as San Francisco, struggling to keep up.

While city-specific poverty numbers are not included in the new data, the methodology points to the very different economic challenges regionally.

In the cities and suburbs of San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz, for example, a family of four with a mortgage is considered impoverished if annual income is not more than about $35,000. That may seem low, but it’s the highest poverty threshold in the U.S., tied with only Honolulu, Hawaii.

Compare that to the nation’s standard poverty threshold — the one that doesn’t take into account cost of living — of $23,624.

Follow @kurtisalexander