“How expensive?” tracks measurements of California’s totally unaffordable housing market.
The pain: California has the dubious distinction of having 13 of the nation’s most unaffordable small cities on a recent “best city” scorecard.
The source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed WalletHub’s ranking of the quality of life in 1,300-plus small US cities – including 213 from California – with populations of 25,000 to 100,000. Our focus was the affordability grades, one of five local traits that created overall city scores – plus economics, health and education, livability and safety.
The pinch
Affordability was measured for this scorecard using measurements of local incomes, expenses and financial stress. This kind of cost-crunch math rarely makes the Golden State look good.
Isla Vista in Santa Barbara County was not only graded as the state’s worst for cost of living, it topped the nation, too. The US ranking then had West Hollywood as No. 2 most unaffordable, followed by Bell Gardens (3), Huntington Park (6), Beverly Hills (7), Santa Monica (8), Maywood (10), Bell (11), San Luis Obispo (12), National City (13), Santa Barbara (17), Imperial Beach (19) and Hawthorne (20).
FYI, California’s best “bargain” by this math was Beaumont, with an affordability ranking that’s only the 302nd best in the nation.
Pressure points
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WalletHub’s typical ranking for California’s 213 small cities was 15% worse than the average place outside the state.
Blame finances. The Golden State’s average affordability ranking was 76% more painful than cities outside the state.
Yet the typical California small city had an average score for local economics that was 18% better than elsewhere. And California health and education was 12% above the rest of the nation.
Two other yardstick graded California as slightly below par. The statewide safety score was 3% under other cities. And California livability scored 4% less than elsewhere.
Simply put, this scorecard says California’s not bad – if you can afford it.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com