The 10 Best Places To Live In California For 2022

The 10 Best Places To Live In California For 2022

Los Altos, one of many Silicon Valley representatives to make the cut this year. Unsurprisingly, residents of Los Altos are highly educated, with over half of folks having a master’s degree or higher. Bigger degrees lead to bigger paychecks, which leaves the residents of Los Altos in the comfortable position of earning around $240,094/year. So, while the $2,000,001 price tag on homes in Los Altos is quite expensive, the overall cost of living is actually quite reasonable.

If you want to settle down in Los Altos for good, you’re in luck because the local schools scored an average of 9/10 on GreatSchools. On top of that, Los Altos has the 28th lowest rate of violent crime in California.

With all of these awesome features, it’s unsurprising that the Los Altos Farmer’s Market is one of the city’s top attractions. If your shopping needs fall outside the purview of a farmer’s market, Santana Row in San Jose is just a fifteen minute drive away.

We don’t to drive very far to arrive at California’s 2nd best city to call home, Los Altos Hills. The unemployment rate in Los Altos Hills is a mere 2.1%, the 10th lowest of anywhere on this list. Which makes sense when you consider that a staggering 50%+ of Los Altos Hills’ population has received AT LEAST a master’s degree, seeing as you don’t normally find a person with a Ph.D out of work. It also explains why folks in Los Altos Hills earn around $250,001/year, the 3rd highest in California.

Los Altos has the 12th lowest overall crime rate in the state, about 75% below the national average. So you can take full advantage of the 24 miles of trails available at Rancho San Antonio without fearing for your safety.

Located in Orange County to the east of Anaheim and north of Santa Ana is our 3rd best place to live in California – Villa Park. While the main draw of the town may be its proximity to major cities, it also offers a lot of high quality shopping options in the Towne Centre, restaurants, and local amenities.

But really stands out about Villa Park? The near absence of crime. The city has the lowest rate of violent crime in the Golden State per the latest FBI data. That means it’s safe to let your kids walk to school or keep your doors unlocked during the day.

Ever wonder why Cupertino is the default option for weather on the iPhone? That’s because, in addition to being the 4th best place to live in California, Cupertino is also the home of Apple’s Headquarters. Being the hub of a tech behemoth like Apple, it’s no surprise that Cupertino’s population of 59,799 is hyper-educated, with more than 40% of residents having a master’s, Ph.D, or professional degree.

All that extra time in school really pays off, because folks in Cupertino enjoy a median household income of $182,857/year, which you’ll need to pay off the $1,866,200 mortgage. Only 1.4% of people are on SNAP and 2.6% of people are without health insurance, so you know the residents of Cupertino aren’t struggling to get by.

We all know you can’t really consider yourself a part of the elite unless you’re a wine snob, so be sure to get in on the culture at one of the several vineyards in the Cupertino area.

We’re departing from Silicon Valley and heading towards Los Angeles’ Orange County to arrive at Aliso Viejo, the 5th best place to live in California. Aliso Viejo is a vibrant, youthful city where the median age is only 37. It’s also the most densely populated city you’ll see on this list, so if you crave constant activity, Aliso Viejo is probably your jam.

Aliso Viejo has the 148th best home price to income ratio. That low cost of living means you won’t have to break the bank to enjoy yourself here. As a bonus, you won’t have any trouble getting friends and family to come visit you in Aliso Viejo, because Disneyland is just a hop, skip, and jump away.

Saratoga is a city of 31,084 located on the western side of the Santa Clara Valley. Of all the San Jose suburbs, Saratoga is the closest to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California’s oldest state park and home to the largest stand of redwoods south of San Francisco. That oughta satisfy even the most voracious nature-lover.

Public schools is Saratoga received a 9/10+ on GreatSchools, so you know kids get off to a good start growing up here. Which obviously translates into greater success in later life, seeing as over 40% of residents have a master’s degree or higher. One good thing leads to another, because residents of Saratoga earn a median household income of $201,046, the 8th highest in Cali.

Add to that the 11th lowest rate of crime statewide and the 8th largest percentage of insured residents, and you’ve got a recipe for the 6th best place to call home in California.

Located at the tip of the Tiburon Peninsula reaching into the San Francisco Bay, Tiburon ranks as the 7th best place to live in California. Tiburon’s poverty level of 1.3% is the 2nd lowest in the state, and the 4.2% unemployment rate is the 97th lowest. Which helps explain why 98.0% of Tiburon’s residents have health insurance, the 28th highest rate of coverage in California.

Tiburon has the 28th lowest rate of crime in California, so you probably won’t need that health insurance to cover you for an assault. Tiburon is also a great jumping off point for getting to Angel Island for a 360 degree view of San Francisco Bay Area or the imposing Alcatraz Island for a history lesson.

Mission Viejo is located in the southern part of the greater Los Angeles metro area, outside of Irvine. The city offers plenty of outdoor activities for you and your family as there is plenty of shopping to be had at the Shops at Mission Viejo and hiking to be done at Mission Viejo Lake and Rancho Santa Margarita Lake.

It finds itself as the 8th best place to live in California for 2022 because of a low crime rate, a ton of things to do, a relatively low cost of living for California, and a solid school system. Great Schools ranks the schools systems as some of the best in Southern California.

Nex on our list of the best places to live in California is Palos Verdes Estates, a city of 13,359 located just south of Los Angeles. For some, it’ll be enough to mention that Disneyland is just a short drive away to convince them that moving to Palos Verdes Estates is a good course of action.

But if even if you’re not into Mickey and the gang, there’s plenty to love right in your neighborhood, like having the Palos Verdes Estates Shoreline Preserve Beach, a rocky beach and bluff, to visit year-round.

Palos Verdes is exceptionally safe, with the 7th lowest overall crime rate in California. That may have something to do with how educated residents are, considering that over 30% of people have a master’s degree or higher.

More degrees lead to bigger paychecks, and Palos Verdes Estates residents prove that with a median household income of $197,826. Which is kind of essential when your typical Palos Verdes Estates home sells for $1,935,900. Unemployment is at rock-bottom levels thanks to low levels of high school dropouts. In fact, GreatSchools gave Palos Verdes Estates schools an average score of 8.5/10, so everyone is set up for success here.

I imagine if you live in Coronado, you consider yourself lucky and don’t need us to be singing your praises. The city is literally an island off of San Diego, which means that it’s beaches to the east and beaches to the west. You get to enjoy all that San Diego has to offer while getting to live the island life.

And the island life is not really an exaggeration. Some of the best things to do on the island include going tide pooling, boating on the bay, or a bonfire on the beach. And after all that time on the beach, you can peruse downtown Coronado shopping.

The overall quality of life in Coronado is very high as people make good incomes, unemployment is low, and crime is basically non existent.

Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In California

Now that we had our set of cities, it was time to rank them.

We ranked each place in California across a number of criteria from one to 410, with one being the best.

We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Place To Live In California”.

The criteria we looked at were:

• Median Home Values
• Median Income
• Population Density (Higher better)
• Unemployment Rate
• Commute Time
• Crime
• Education Levels
• Health Insurance Coverage
• Poverty rates

Sources of criteria include the New Census Data and FBI Crime Data. You can download the data here.

After the dust settled, what was the best place to live in California? That would be Los Altos.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in California.

Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Los Altos at the end of the cul-de-sac.