California's Most, Least Expensive Cities

Housing affordability in California is notoriously rough—but it's also radically different depending on where you land on the map. A new Los Angeles Times analysis ranks cities by a unique formula: how many years of household income it would take to buy the median home.

Most affordable

1. Ridgecrest
2. Lemoore
3. Corcoran
4. Imperial
5. Twentynine Palms

Here, roughly four years of income—or less, in Ridgecrest, where the median home value is a modest $254,000—can buy a typical home. But you're also looking at long drives to major job centers and economies built around agriculture, prisons, or military bases.

Least affordable

1. Santa Monica
2. Beverly Hills
3. Santa Barbara
4. Laguna Beach
5. Berkeley

In these cities, buyers often need 14 years or more of income to match the median home price, which comes in at $1.8 million in Santa Monica. It's a reflection of prized coastal locations, strong school districts, and proximity to entertainment and tech hubs—paired, in some cases, with relatively modest local incomes that make the math especially punishing. See the full rankings.