While it’s true that the Golden State is synonymous with expensive real estate and high home prices, there are still very small pockets of affordability. The cheapest places to live in California are like hidden gems in a state known for its high cost of living.
The key to finding these affordable areas in California is to compare home prices and rents to local incomes.
We used Saturday Night Science to compare the ratio of home prices and rents to incomes across every place in California over 5,000 people. The fact of the matter is you’re gonna need to earn more in California to find a place to live.
$56,625 median income · $938 median rent · #3 home prices in California
Located in
Riverside County, California
Just East of San Diego, on the California/Arizona border, is our most affordable California city, Blythe.
This ‘Hub of Southern California’ is home to the greatest percentage of young folks (25 to 44) concentrated into one city on our list. And if we’ve learned anything about Millenials, they know a good deal. We also know that age group probably wasn’t drawn to this affordable Riverside County city for their love of the desert, but to work at one of the largest cannabis facilities in North America: the Palo Verde Center.
What we’re confused by, however, is Blythe’s median income only topping out at $56,625???
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,641 median income · $902 median rent · #4 home prices in California
Located in
Lassen County, California
Susanville should be on your radar if you’re looking for an affordable place to live in California. Housing costs are significantly lower than the state average, with a median home value of $237,883 and a median rent of $902.
But affordability is only one reason to consider Susanvilles as your next home. Located on the Susan River at an elevation of over 4,000 feet, this small city boasts stunning scenery and outdoor recreation opportunities. And despite its small size with a population of 14,177, there’s plenty to do in town, from exploring the Lassen National Forest to check out the local shops and restaurants.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,299 median income · $919 median rent · #10 home prices in California
Located in
Imperial County, California
Calipatria, California’s third most affordable city, offers a California-sized economic haven with its “Californian low” $264,002 home prices and $919 resnts.
Located in Imperial County, 2+ hours east of San Diego near the Salton Sea, it’s understandable why the cost of living here is lower. Calipatria’s 101 cost of living index score is mainly due to low housing costs. For cheap things to do, consider Salvation Mountain or the Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$41,867 median income · $1,240 median rent · #1 home prices in California
Located in
Lake County, California
Clearlake, located in Lake County about 2 hours northeast of Sacramento, is clearly one of the most affordable cities in California. You’ll be awash in cash as the city has an overall cost of living that is 26.8% lower than the California average.
Housing is particularly economical with the lowest median home value and a median rent within reach on average incomes. You can take the savings even further by doing activities on Clear Lake or hiking in Mendocino National Forest.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$43,982 median income · $987 median rent · #7 home prices in California
Located in
Siskiyou County, California
Yreka is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, located in the Shasta Valley at 2,500 feet above sea level and covering about 10.1 sq mi area, of which most is land. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 7,765, reflecting an increase of 475 from the 7,290 counted in the 2000 Census. Yreka is home to the College of the Siskiyous, Klamath National Forest Interpretive Museum and the Siskiyou County Museum. Its gold mining heritage is commemorated by the high school team which uses a gold miner as their name and mascot.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,380 median income · $1,091 median rent · #9 home prices in California
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census. Barstow is located 55 miles north of San Bernardino.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$35,540 median income · $1,192 median rent · #43 home prices in California
Crescent City is the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 7,643 in the 2010 census, up from 4,006 in the 2000 census. The population includes inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison, also within the city limits, and the former census-designated place Crescent City North annexed to the city. The city is also the site of the Redwood National Park headquarters, as well as the historic Battery Point Light. Due to the richness of the local Pacific Ocean waters and the related catch, and ease of access, Crescent City Harbor serves as home port for numerous commercial fishing vessels.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,554 median income · $1,352 median rent · #6 home prices in California
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Twentynine Palms is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was previously called Twenty-Nine Palms.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$59,905 median income · $1,160 median rent · #11 home prices in California
Located in
Kings County, California
Corcoran is located in Kings County within the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area – a true inland marvel an hour south of Fresno. It stands out for its $ 268,556 median home price that makes homeownership attainable in California and a $1,160 rent.
Affordable things around Corcoran include a day trip to Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park or an afternoon at Corcoran Community Park. Either way, you’ll spend less on groceries, services, and transportation than in other parts of the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$54,741 median income · $1,015 median rent · #8 home prices in California
Located in
Kings County, California
Another low cost of living city in California is Avenal — the tenth most affordable city in California for 2026. The city has an overall cost of living that is more than 30% cheaper than the California average. Like most places on this list, that is driven by low housing costs, even for an expensive state like California. The median home price sits at $257,257, the eighth lowest mark in the state. Rents are equally cheap. You can score a rental for a median price of $1,015 per month.
Some of the major employers in town include the Avenal State Prison and Paramount Farms. This makes sense as agriculture serves as the main driver of the economy. The local farmers market is one of the town’s bigger attractions where we know you can find moderately priced produce.
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
California statewide median: $99,122
On the map
Where your money goes furthest in California
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Golden State for 2026
Determining affordability for places in California boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for California using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in California to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 428 places in California that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in California with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Blythe.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in California.
The full plate
Cheapest Places To Live In California
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blythe | 17,396 | 98 | $56,625 | $219,715 | $938 |
| 2 | Susanville | 14,177 | 100 | $61,641 | $237,883 | $902 |
| 3 | Calipatria | 6,548 | 101 | $53,299 | $264,002 | $919 |
| 4 | Clearlake | 16,659 | 104 | $41,867 | $204,858 | $1,240 |
| 5 | Yreka | 7,820 | 104 | $43,982 | $250,942 | $987 |
| 6 | Barstow | 25,100 | 105 | $53,380 | $263,254 | $1,091 |
| 7 | Crescent City | 6,046 | 105 | $35,540 | $363,344 | $1,192 |
| 8 | Twentynine Palms | 27,355 | 106 | $62,554 | $249,326 | $1,352 |
| 9 | Corcoran | 22,491 | 106 | $59,905 | $268,556 | $1,160 |
| 10 | Avenal | 13,608 | 106 | $54,741 | $257,257 | $1,015 |
| 11 | Huron | 6,519 | 107 | $52,500 | $246,747 | $1,054 |
| 12 | Mendota | 12,577 | 108 | $50,342 | $328,005 | $1,042 |
| 13 | Firebaugh | 8,392 | 109 | $47,734 | $336,353 | $982 |
| 14 | Holtville | 5,617 | 109 | $65,039 | $353,222 | $861 |
| 15 | California City | 14,414 | 110 | $60,113 | $276,563 | $1,300 |
| 16 | Lindsay | 12,643 | 110 | $53,201 | $312,572 | $1,009 |
| 17 | Orange Cove | 9,695 | 110 | $46,629 | $299,868 | $1,103 |
| 18 | El Centro | 44,240 | 111 | $53,082 | $387,050 | $1,052 |
| 19 | Wasco | 26,558 | 111 | $51,727 | $317,361 | $1,089 |
| 20 | Arvin | 19,539 | 111 | $49,183 | $296,902 | $1,122 |
| 21 | Coalinga | 17,203 | 111 | $75,451 | $294,654 | $1,093 |
| 22 | Red Bluff | 14,549 | 111 | $51,529 | $311,879 | $1,121 |
| 23 | Parlier | 14,507 | 111 | $52,357 | $331,194 | $1,105 |
| 24 | Ridgecrest | 28,225 | 112 | $89,250 | $269,057 | $1,186 |
| 25 | Oroville | 19,752 | 112 | $52,270 | $307,295 | $1,093 |
| 26 | McFarland | 14,222 | 112 | $54,608 | $287,503 | $1,131 |
| 27 | Corning | 8,155 | 112 | $56,627 | $297,404 | $961 |
| 28 | Woodlake | 7,702 | 112 | $46,266 | $332,363 | $968 |
| 29 | Taft | 7,125 | 112 | $72,772 | $205,746 | $1,069 |
| 30 | Porterville | 63,157 | 113 | $60,461 | $326,954 | $1,148 |
| 31 | Calexico | 38,585 | 113 | $49,783 | $391,300 | $1,093 |
| 32 | Brawley | 27,283 | 113 | $59,311 | $356,766 | $988 |
| 33 | Shafter | 21,193 | 113 | $71,215 | $382,594 | $1,253 |
| 34 | Chowchilla | 19,020 | 113 | $66,514 | $393,599 | $1,178 |
| 35 | Farmersville | 10,397 | 113 | $60,804 | $288,213 | $1,114 |
| 36 | Yucca Valley | 21,770 | 114 | $59,563 | $358,163 | $1,428 |
| 37 | Tulare | 70,945 | 115 | $72,410 | $353,916 | $1,435 |
| 38 | Delano | 51,679 | 115 | $67,010 | $335,057 | $1,199 |
| 39 | Reedley | 25,609 | 115 | $63,307 | $390,765 | $1,288 |
| 40 | Gridley | 7,330 | 115 | $57,974 | $352,300 | $1,176 |
| 41 | Willows | 6,190 | 115 | $64,068 | $315,949 | $1,237 |
| 42 | Coachella | 43,307 | 116 | $68,596 | $432,916 | $1,144 |
| 43 | Desert Hot Springs | 33,200 | 116 | $52,761 | $377,730 | $1,412 |
| 44 | Selma | 24,659 | 116 | $60,241 | $362,734 | $1,232 |
| 45 | Marysville | 12,726 | 116 | $56,430 | $393,130 | $1,295 |
| 46 | Anderson | 11,255 | 116 | $47,375 | $338,059 | $962 |
| 47 | Adelanto | 37,964 | 117 | $68,685 | $397,444 | $1,437 |
| 48 | Tehachapi | 11,946 | 117 | $72,957 | $424,155 | $1,295 |
| 49 | Shasta Lake | 10,311 | 117 | $67,401 | $297,949 | $1,298 |
| 50 | Orland | 8,357 | 117 | $64,945 | $394,399 | $1,146 |
| 51 | Hanford | 59,754 | 118 | $76,461 | $382,153 | $1,309 |
| 52 | Lemoore | 27,102 | 118 | $83,724 | $382,910 | $1,555 |
| 53 | Madera | 67,831 | 119 | $63,933 | $423,813 | $1,353 |
| 54 | Atwater | 32,162 | 119 | $64,472 | $422,471 | $1,279 |
| 55 | Banning | 31,093 | 119 | $61,764 | $414,128 | $1,650 |
| 56 | Dinuba | 25,475 | 119 | $59,484 | $354,576 | $1,209 |
| 57 | Imperial | 21,430 | 119 | $90,195 | $437,251 | $1,255 |
| 58 | Livingston | 14,606 | 119 | $74,494 | $426,446 | $1,315 |
| 59 | Live Oak | 9,347 | 119 | $73,571 | $392,217 | $1,014 |
| 60 | Colusa | 6,505 | 119 | $71,250 | $366,115 | $1,132 |
| 61 | Gustine | 6,133 | 119 | $59,532 | $423,282 | $1,395 |
| 62 | Dos Palos | 5,765 | 119 | $42,367 | $358,920 | $1,125 |
| 63 | Visalia | 143,939 | 120 | $81,989 | $396,184 | $1,490 |
| 64 | Hemet | 91,326 | 120 | $57,719 | $444,334 | $1,575 |
| 65 | Exeter | 10,258 | 120 | $75,769 | $388,258 | $1,286 |
| 66 | Victorville | 137,627 | 121 | $74,410 | $436,009 | $1,618 |
| 67 | Merced | 91,953 | 121 | $63,122 | $397,876 | $1,393 |
| 68 | Sanger | 26,699 | 121 | $77,500 | $412,063 | $1,209 |
| 69 | Williams | 5,585 | 121 | $90,761 | $376,328 | $1,184 |
| 70 | Fresno | 545,970 | 122 | $70,991 | $391,328 | $1,421 |
| 71 | San Jacinto | 55,180 | 122 | $80,647 | $482,811 | $1,615 |
| 72 | Eureka | 26,010 | 122 | $57,662 | $410,992 | $1,195 |
| 73 | Kerman | 16,815 | 122 | $59,799 | $415,639 | $1,223 |
| 74 | Newman | 12,316 | 122 | $78,906 | $438,320 | $1,420 |
| 75 | Hesperia | 100,775 | 123 | $72,160 | $460,687 | $1,590 |
| 76 | Apple Valley | 75,473 | 123 | $69,882 | $432,343 | $1,444 |
| 77 | Ione | 9,156 | 123 | $91,495 | $464,966 | |
| 78 | Fowler | 7,094 | 123 | $66,983 | $470,310 | $1,218 |
| 79 | Lakeport | 5,113 | 123 | $68,518 | $354,203 | $1,063 |
| 80 | Jackson | 5,048 | 123 | $70,239 | $433,492 | $1,429 |
| 81 | Bakersfield | 411,986 | 124 | $80,540 | $396,047 | $1,472 |
| 82 | Redding | 93,409 | 124 | $70,466 | $388,869 | $1,379 |
| 83 | Kingsburg | 12,755 | 124 | $76,913 | $475,599 | $1,277 |
| 84 | Calimesa | 10,902 | 124 | $87,181 | $566,185 | $1,783 |
| 85 | San Bernardino | 222,724 | 125 | $67,415 | $487,988 | $1,508 |
| 86 | Colton | 53,772 | 125 | $71,208 | $493,150 | $1,661 |
| 87 | King City | 13,604 | 125 | $66,761 | $526,055 | $1,534 |
| 88 | Waterford | 9,204 | 125 | $74,343 | $429,372 | $1,620 |
| 89 | Paradise | 7,392 | 125 | $67,687 | $334,278 | $1,241 |
| 90 | Stockton | 322,326 | 126 | $79,907 | $431,328 | $1,577 |
| 91 | Ceres | 49,342 | 126 | $79,025 | $454,823 | $1,639 |
| 92 | Fortuna | 12,326 | 126 | $62,289 | $414,815 | $1,168 |
| 93 | Lancaster | 169,169 | 127 | $81,511 | $465,847 | $1,764 |
| 94 | Cathedral City | 52,267 | 127 | $73,572 | $483,431 | $1,601 |
| 95 | Los Banos | 47,593 | 127 | $68,171 | $462,223 | $1,557 |
| 96 | Modesto | 219,215 | 128 | $79,891 | $446,494 | $1,690 |
| 97 | Indio | 91,950 | 128 | $77,167 | $517,774 | $1,437 |
| 98 | Yuba City | 69,471 | 129 | $75,477 | $442,904 | $1,454 |
| 99 | Lompoc | 43,646 | 129 | $72,004 | $590,686 | $1,589 |
| 100 | Clovis | 124,725 | 130 | $99,241 | $521,708 | $1,792 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, cost-of-living data. 428 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
California Affordability Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in California for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in California.
The cheapest cities in California are Blythe, Susanville, Calipatria, Clearlake, Yreka, Barstow, Crescent City, Twentynine Palms, Corcoran, and Avenal.
