Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in California with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in California that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in California at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Jackson.
-0.3% population growth · -1.3% home price growth
Data | Movers
0.6% population growth · 0.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.1% population growth · -1.2% home price growth
Dos Palos is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Dos Palos is located 23 miles south-southwest of Merced, at an elevation of 118 feet. The population was 4,950 at the 2010 census, up from 4,581 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.3% population growth · 3.3% home price growth
Buellton is a small city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 4,828 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% population growth · -0.3% home price growth
Williams is a town in Colusa County, California, United States. The population was 5,123 at the 2010 census, up from 3,670 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.1% population growth · -0.7% home price growth
Big Bear Lake is a small city in San Bernardino County, California, located in the San Bernardino Mountains along the south shore of Big Bear Lake, and surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. The city is located about 25 miles northeast of the city of San Bernardino, and immediately west of the unincorporated town of Big Bear City. The population was approximately 5,019 at the 2010 census, down from 5,438 at the 2000 census. Being a popular year-round resort destination, however, the actual number of people staying in or visiting the greater Big Bear Valley area regularly surges to over 100,000 during many weekends of the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.2% population growth · 1.0% home price growth
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
La Habra Heights is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2010 census, down from 5,712 at the 2000 census. La Habra Heights is a rural canyon community located on the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties. The zoning is 1-acre lots with a variety of home and ranch style properties. La Habra Heights features open space, no sidewalks, no street lights and encouragement of animal husbandry. La Habra Heights has no commercial activity with the exception of a small real estate office, plant nursery, private golf course and numerous home-based businesses.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.9% population growth · 1.4% home price growth
Calistoga is a city in Napa County, California, United States. During the 2010 census, the population was 5,155.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.1% population growth · 5.0% home price growth
Located in
San Mateo County, California
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.0% population growth · 3.2% home price growth
Located in
Santa Barbara County, California
Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 5,245 at the 2010 census, down from 5,332 at the 2000 census. Solvang was incorporated as a city on May 1, 1985.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $774,582
On the map
Where California’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in California for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in California. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in California with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for California, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 1481 cities and towns in California, only 428 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 428 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Jackson is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Golden State. The median California home is 49 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In California
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackson | 5,048 | $433,492 | -0.3% | -1.3% |
| 2 | Lakeport | 5,113 | $354,203 | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| 3 | Dos Palos | 5,765 | $358,920 | 0.1% | -1.2% |
| 4 | Buellton | 5,074 | $915,960 | -0.3% | 3.3% |
| 5 | Williams | 5,585 | $376,328 | 0.3% | -0.3% |
| 6 | Big Bear Lake | 5,041 | $551,706 | 0.1% | -0.7% |
| 7 | La Habra Heights | 5,478 | $1,399,870 | -1.2% | 1.0% |
| 8 | Calistoga | 5,111 | $1,062,298 | -0.9% | 1.4% |
| 9 | Woodside | 5,126 | $3,891,384 | -1.1% | 5.0% |
| 10 | Solvang | 6,034 | $1,410,759 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
| 11 | Gustine | 6,133 | $423,282 | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| 12 | Villa Park | 5,748 | $2,343,977 | -0.5% | 4.1% |
| 13 | St. Helena | 5,318 | $1,633,318 | -1.1% | -0.1% |
| 14 | Willows | 6,190 | $315,949 | -0.8% | 4.9% |
| 15 | Colusa | 6,505 | $366,115 | 1.0% | -0.6% |
| 16 | Holtville | 5,617 | $353,222 | 0.2% | 3.8% |
| 17 | Fowler | 7,094 | $470,310 | 2.4% | 0.7% |
| 18 | Crescent City | 6,046 | $363,344 | -2.2% | 0.8% |
| 19 | Loomis | 6,853 | $948,107 | 0.6% | 1.7% |
| 20 | Atherton | 6,993 | $7,890,841 | -0.4% | 3.6% |
| 21 | Huron | 6,519 | $246,747 | 1.5% | 1.9% |
| 22 | Gridley | 7,330 | $352,300 | -0.6% | 3.2% |
| 23 | Sausalito | 7,141 | $1,505,307 | -0.4% | 3.6% |
| 24 | Calipatria | 6,548 | $264,002 | -0.0% | 1.8% |
| 25 | Fort Bragg | 7,032 | $555,502 | 0.4% | -2.4% |
| 26 | Winters | 7,583 | $614,926 | 1.7% | 0.8% |
| 27 | Cotati | 7,489 | $727,231 | -0.6% | 0.6% |
| 28 | Hughson | 7,648 | $551,115 | 1.4% | 1.1% |
| 29 | Escalon | 7,451 | $601,490 | 0.3% | 1.4% |
| 30 | Yreka | 7,820 | $250,942 | -0.2% | 0.4% |
| 31 | Corning | 8,155 | $297,404 | -0.2% | 0.8% |
| 32 | Ojai | 7,577 | $1,141,102 | 0.0% | -0.1% |
| 33 | Fairfax | 7,516 | $1,213,199 | -0.1% | 3.7% |
| 34 | Guadalupe | 8,566 | $565,104 | 1.7% | 3.9% |
| 35 | Sebastopol | 7,445 | $1,086,416 | -0.3% | 2.1% |
| 36 | Woodlake | 7,702 | $332,363 | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| 37 | Firebaugh | 8,392 | $336,353 | 1.1% | 1.6% |
| 38 | Orland | 8,357 | $394,399 | 1.3% | 2.0% |
| 39 | Ione | 9,156 | $464,966 | 72.6% | 0.2% |
| 40 | Rolling Hills Estates | 8,131 | $1,901,413 | -0.3% | 1.6% |
| 41 | Pismo Beach | 8,014 | $1,123,130 | -0.1% | 0.7% |
| 42 | Westlake Village | 7,743 | $1,585,475 | -1.1% | 2.3% |
| 43 | Mammoth Lakes | 7,214 | $817,135 | -0.3% | 2.4% |
| 44 | Gonzales | 8,492 | $627,871 | -0.4% | 3.5% |
| 45 | Los Altos Hills | 8,377 | $6,102,345 | 0.1% | 5.9% |
| 46 | Live Oak | 9,347 | $392,217 | 0.9% | 0.5% |
| 47 | Cloverdale | 8,886 | $636,216 | -0.5% | 0.2% |
| 48 | Waterford | 9,204 | $429,372 | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| 49 | Calimesa | 10,902 | $566,185 | 2.1% | 1.0% |
| 50 | Tiburon | 9,012 | $3,020,895 | -0.3% | 6.9% |
| 51 | Taft | 7,125 | $205,746 | -1.4% | -0.8% |
| 52 | Rio Vista | 10,102 | $464,118 | 1.0% | -0.0% |
| 53 | Corte Madera | 10,077 | $1,838,958 | -0.2% | 5.4% |
| 54 | Capitola | 9,689 | $1,233,202 | -1.3% | 1.1% |
| 55 | Orange Cove | 9,695 | $299,868 | 0.9% | 3.6% |
| 56 | Shasta Lake | 10,311 | $297,949 | -0.2% | 2.1% |
| 57 | Exeter | 10,258 | $388,258 | -0.2% | 0.5% |
| 58 | Anderson | 11,255 | $338,059 | -0.2% | 1.5% |
| 59 | Morro Bay | 10,692 | $955,622 | -0.2% | 2.7% |
| 60 | Sierra Madre | 10,940 | $1,437,492 | -0.7% | 2.9% |
| 61 | Farmersville | 10,397 | $288,213 | 0.6% | 0.7% |
| 62 | Placerville | 10,762 | $531,048 | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 63 | Sonoma | 10,670 | $943,021 | -0.5% | 0.1% |
| 64 | Canyon Lake | 11,119 | $704,581 | 0.1% | 0.9% |
| 65 | Signal Hill | 11,468 | $708,079 | -0.8% | 1.9% |
| 66 | Piedmont | 10,945 | $2,459,056 | -0.6% | 9.3% |
| 67 | Newman | 12,316 | $438,320 | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| 68 | Los Alamitos | 11,794 | $1,583,957 | 0.1% | 5.3% |
| 69 | Clayton | 10,937 | $1,057,924 | -0.2% | 3.6% |
| 70 | Hillsborough | 11,099 | $5,279,135 | -0.2% | 4.3% |
| 71 | Emeryville | 13,081 | $448,554 | 2.5% | -1.0% |
| 72 | Healdsburg | 11,243 | $1,102,688 | -0.3% | 1.1% |
| 73 | Scotts Valley | 12,044 | $1,260,978 | -0.8% | 2.1% |
| 74 | Kingsburg | 12,755 | $475,599 | 1.3% | 2.6% |
| 75 | Fortuna | 12,326 | $414,815 | -0.7% | -0.6% |
| 76 | Mendota | 12,577 | $328,005 | 0.2% | 1.8% |
| 77 | Malibu | 10,421 | $3,142,247 | -0.9% | -2.0% |
| 78 | Larkspur | 12,854 | $2,129,545 | -0.0% | 6.3% |
| 79 | Marysville | 12,726 | $393,130 | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| 80 | Grand Terrace | 13,078 | $587,468 | 0.1% | 1.3% |
| 81 | Half Moon Bay | 11,391 | $1,573,307 | -0.6% | 3.5% |
| 82 | San Anselmo | 12,679 | $1,647,302 | -0.3% | 4.6% |
| 83 | Tehachapi | 11,946 | $424,155 | -3.4% | 0.1% |
| 84 | Commerce | 11,993 | $696,480 | -0.7% | 2.1% |
| 85 | Lindsay | 12,643 | $312,572 | 0.6% | 2.4% |
| 86 | Grass Valley | 14,113 | $509,978 | -0.1% | 1.7% |
| 87 | San Marino | 12,216 | $2,837,216 | -0.5% | 4.8% |
| 88 | Avenal | 13,608 | $257,257 | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| 89 | McFarland | 14,222 | $287,503 | 0.6% | 6.7% |
| 90 | Solana Beach | 12,823 | $2,183,118 | -0.1% | 3.3% |
| 91 | Palos Verdes Estates | 12,925 | $2,763,820 | -0.9% | 2.8% |
| 92 | Carpinteria | 13,036 | $1,506,926 | -0.5% | 3.6% |
| 93 | Grover Beach | 12,604 | $777,111 | -0.7% | 2.4% |
| 94 | King City | 13,604 | $526,055 | 0.7% | 2.1% |
| 95 | California City | 14,414 | $276,563 | -2.7% | -0.2% |
| 96 | Red Bluff | 14,549 | $311,879 | -0.3% | 0.9% |
| 97 | Auburn | 13,768 | $630,252 | 0.1% | 2.0% |
| 98 | Hawaiian Gardens | 13,691 | $647,289 | -0.9% | 2.5% |
| 99 | Livingston | 14,606 | $426,446 | 1.1% | 1.1% |
| 100 | Mill Valley | 14,012 | $2,073,166 | -0.4% | 6.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 428 California cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In California for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in California. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 1481 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in California are Jackson, Lakeport, Dos Palos, Buellton, Williams, Big Bear Lake, La Habra Heights, Calistoga, Woodside, and Solvang.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Places To Buy A House In California FAQs
What is the best city in California to buy a house?
Jackson is the best place to buy a house in California for 2026. Its population is growing, home values are rising, and the median home still costs $433,492. Lakeport and Dos Palos are next on the list.
What are the best cities to buy a home in California?
The best cities to buy a house in California are Jackson, Lakeport, Dos Palos, Buellton, Williams, Big Bear Lake, La Habra Heights, Calistoga, Woodside, and Solvang. Only 428 of the 1481 places in California cleared our filters on growth and home prices.
How much does a house cost in Jackson?
The median home value in Jackson is $433,492, versus $774,582 across California. Across the full top ten, the median home runs $733,833.
How do you pick the best places to buy a home in California?
We look for California places where the population is growing, home prices are climbing, and homes are still cheap relative to the state average, using Census American Community Survey data. Cities that hit all three get the highest Buy Index scores.
Is this a guarantee home values will go up?
No. This is not investment advice — just where the data points to potential value. The Buy Index says these markets look healthier than most of California, not that any single house is a good deal.
