Yes, you have been right about personal income tax... I will not comment about Rhode Island since this state's taxes hold no bearing on taxes in California.

If we focused exclusively in personal income taxes then California's tax system would appeal to most people outside of business owners, corporations, and the rich.

But the government (federal and state) taxes more than income. Taxes can involve sales, property, and other things.

As a whole, California does not rank very well.

https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/californias-tax-revenue-system-isnt-fair-for-all/

In the link above, the writers feel some tax rates are great (such as personal income, since the writers say it is progressive) but others are bad (such as sales taxes since the writers claim it unfairly hurts poor and working class people).

I was raised in California. I never met anyone who liked the tax system there. Whether poor, working poor, middle class or wealthy, someone has a gripe with the tax system. The links kinda show how people with different political views can view the same system as good and bad for very different reasons.