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Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, and Glendale all moved up HomeSnacks list of the top ten most expensive places to live in California for 2021; and surprisingly, none of these places hold the number one spot. So, the million dollar question, what California place earned this title? HomeSnacks knows and we've listed it below.
But, before you click that down arrow, you should probably know how we calculated this list. Yes, in order to determine the top ten most expensive places in California, we looked at the American Community Survey for data on cost of living in The Golden State: specifically, home to income ratio and rent to income ratio. And, folks, if you want to live in California's most expensive places, you're going to have to make at least $56,071/year. And if you want to live in the number one most expensive place, you might want to think about renting before you buy because its median home price is off the charts.
But, it's worth it. Many of the most expensive places on this list are some of Califonia's best places and that's because these places have the funds to keep its residents happy, safe, and living their best life.
To see a list of the California places where the boulevards are paved in gold and you have to make Mark Zuckerberg's salary to survive, keep reading.
Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in California for 2021:
What's the most expensive place to live in California? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Coronado is the most expensive place to live in California.
So hopefully Ridgecrest (the cheapest place to live in California) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.
And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about California and the most expensive cities in the country:
The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In California For 2021
/10
Population: 23,639
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 14.8x (3rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 44.0x (87th most expensive)
More on Coronado: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Coronado comes in at $108,967 and the median home value is $1,617,000 for 2021.
/10
Population: 29,593
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 12.2x (14th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 38.0x (20th most expensive)
More on East Palo Alto: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in East Palo Alto comes in at $67,087 and the median home value is $821,200 for 2021.
/10
Population: 7,116
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 11)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 12.0x (15th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 43.3x (76th most expensive)
More on Sausalito: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Sausalito comes in at $111,906 and the median home value is $1,346,000 for 2021.
/10
Population: 91,376
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 13.7x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 42.9x (68th most expensive)
More on Santa Barbara: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Santa Barbara comes in at $76,606 and the median home value is $1,051,500 for 2021.
/10
Population: 64,522
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 11.0x (24th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 41.2x (45th most expensive)
More on Santa Cruz: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Santa Cruz comes in at $77,921 and the median home value is $854,200 for 2021.
/10
Population: 34,186
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 4)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 18.7x (most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 47.7x (15most expensive)
More on Beverly Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Beverly Hills comes in at $106,936 and the median home value is $2,000,001 for 2021.
/10
Population: 200,232
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 11.6x (20th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 40.8x (43rd most expensive)
More on Glendale: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Glendale comes in at $66,130 and the median home value is $769,900 for 2021.
/10
Population: 47,302
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 11.5x (2most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 35.6x (9th most expensive)
More on San Luis Obispo: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in San Luis Obispo comes in at $56,071 and the median home value is $643,200 for 2021.
/10
Population: 10,121
Rank Last Year: 74 (Up 65)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 10.2x (36th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 39.9x (34th most expensive)
More on Capitola: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Capitola comes in at $71,059 and the median home value is $721,900 for 2021.
/10
Population: 8,169
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 8.8x (73rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 44.8x (10most expensive)
More on Rolling Hills Estates: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Rolling Hills Estates comes in at $150,135 and the median home value is $1,326,600 for 2021.
How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Golden State For 2021
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:
- How much do money do I make?
- How much do I have spend to live there?
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2015-2019 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in California to figure out which is the most expensive.
What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 427 places in California that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in California according to the data is Coronado. You can download the data here.
Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In California For 2021
Well there you have it, the places in California that have the highest cost of living, with Coronado ranking as the most expensive city in the Golden State.
Here's a look at the most affordable cities in California according to the data:
- Ridgecrest
- Coalinga
- Taft
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- Most Dangerous Cities In California
- Best Places To Raise A Family In California
- Safest Places In California
- Worst Places To Live In California
Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In California
| Rank | City | ExpensiveScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coronado | 37.33 |
| 2 | East Palo Alto | 39.0 |
| 3 | Sausalito | 40.67 |
| 4 | Santa Barbara | 42.0 |
| 5 | Santa Cruz | 49.0 |
| 6 | Beverly Hills | 53.17 |
| 7 | Glendale | 53.67 |
| 8 | San Luis Obispo | 55.67 |
| 9 | Capitola | 61.0 |
| 10 | Rolling Hills Estates | 68.67 |
| 11 | San Gabriel | 68.67 |
| 12 | Carpinteria | 71.0 |
| 13 | Imperial Beach | 74.0 |
| 14 | Westminster | 77.67 |
| 15 | West Hollywood | 78.33 |
| 16 | Solana Beach | 79.0 |
| 17 | Los Angeles | 79.33 |
| 18 | San Rafael | 82.0 |
| 19 | Monterey | 82.83 |
| 20 | Daly City | 83.33 |
| 21 | Alhambra | 83.67 |
| 22 | San Marino | 85.17 |
| 23 | Burbank | 87.67 |
| 24 | Redwood City | 89.0 |
| 25 | Berkeley | 91.67 |
| 26 | Sonoma | 92.0 |
| 27 | Hawthorne | 92.0 |
| 28 | Monterey Park | 92.67 |
| 29 | Davis | 94.33 |
| 30 | Costa Mesa | 95.33 |
| 31 | San Bruno | 96.67 |
| 32 | Rosemead | 99.67 |
| 33 | Millbrae | 101.0 |
| 34 | Irvine | 101.33 |
| 35 | Morro Bay | 101.67 |
| 36 | El Monte | 102.67 |
| 37 | Dana Point | 104.67 |
| 38 | Pismo Beach | 105.0 |
| 39 | Inglewood | 105.67 |
| 40 | Cudahy | 108.33 |
| 41 | Larkspur | 108.67 |
| 42 | Santa Monica | 108.67 |
| 43 | Pasadena | 109.0 |
| 44 | Huntington Park | 109.67 |
| 45 | Bell | 109.67 |
| 46 | Ojai | 109.67 |
| 47 | Bell Gardens | 112.0 |
| 48 | Artesia | 113.33 |
| 49 | Watsonville | 113.33 |
| 50 | Lawndale | 113.67 |
| 51 | Montebello | 113.67 |
| 52 | Villa Park | 114.0 |
| 53 | Temple City | 114.33 |
| 54 | Pacific Grove | 114.33 |
| 55 | San Mateo | 115.33 |
| 56 | Culver City | 116.0 |
| 57 | South El Monte | 116.83 |
| 58 | Newport Beach | 117.33 |
| 59 | Seaside | 118.0 |
| 60 | St. Helena | 118.67 |
| 61 | Fountain Valley | 118.67 |
| 62 | Calabasas | 119.33 |
| 63 | Laguna Beach | 119.67 |
| 64 | Foster City | 120.33 |
| 65 | Anaheim | 120.33 |
| 66 | Arcata | 120.33 |
| 67 | San Juan Capistrano | 121.33 |
| 68 | La Mesa | 121.33 |
| 69 | Cupertino | 122.0 |
| 70 | Manhattan Beach | 122.5 |
| 71 | Burlingame | 123.33 |
| 72 | Los Alamitos | 123.67 |
| 73 | Garden Grove | 126.67 |
| 74 | Laguna Niguel | 127.33 |
| 75 | Albany | 127.67 |
| 76 | Goleta | 128.67 |
| 77 | Maywood | 128.67 |
| 78 | National City | 129.33 |
| 79 | Walnut | 129.33 |
| 80 | Commerce | 129.67 |
| 81 | Monrovia | 130.0 |
| 82 | Grass Valley | 130.0 |
| 83 | El Cajon | 130.33 |
| 84 | Tustin | 130.83 |
| 85 | Arcadia | 131.67 |
| 86 | Palo Alto | 132.17 |
| 87 | Fullerton | 133.33 |
| 88 | Malibu | 134.17 |
| 89 | Mountain View | 134.33 |
| 90 | Long Beach | 134.67 |
| 91 | Rancho Palos Verdes | 135.0 |
| 92 | Tiburon | 135.5 |
| 93 | Grover Beach | 137.67 |
| 94 | South San Francisco | 137.67 |
| 95 | Santa Ana | 138.33 |
| 96 | Huntington Beach | 139.33 |
| 97 | Saratoga | 139.5 |
| 98 | Westlake Village | 139.67 |
| 99 | Oakland | 140.0 |
| 100 | El Segundo | 140.33 |
