Cheapest Places to Live in California (2026)

The cheapest place to live in California in 2026 is Yreka, with a cost index of 35.9, average rent of $1,050 a month and a median home value of $259,370. Taft (index 36.2, with the lowest home value on the list at $209,086) and Lamont (index 36.6, rent $1,125) round out the top three. All three cost roughly a third of what a typical California city or town costs for housing, but their household incomes are also well below the statewide norm.

This ranking compares 465 California cities and towns with at least 10,000 residents and sorts them only by housing cost. Each place gets a cost index that averages its rent and its median home value, each measured against the peer-group median. A score of 100 is typical, and a score of 70 would mean 30% cheaper. Across the peer group, the median home value is $783,233, the median rent is $2,716 a month and the median household income is $92,701. Figures are as of September 2026.

The 20 cheapest places to live in California, ranked by housing cost

Cheapest places to live in California (2026)

#	Place	Median home value	Avg rent	Median household income	Rent / income	Cost index
1	Yreka, CA	$259,370	$1,050	$49,281	25.6%	35.9
2	Taft, CA	$209,086	$1,240	$50,204	29.6%	36.2
3	Lamont, CA	$249,014	$1,125	$33,121	40.8%	36.6
4	Avenal, CA	$249,114	$1,179	$51,902	27.3%	37.6
5	Susanville, CA	$271,166	$1,113	$66,697	20%	37.8
6	Corcoran, CA	$268,821	$1,179	$51,890	27.3%	38.9
7	Ridgecrest, CA	$269,742	$1,219	$81,824	17.9%	39.7
8	Farmersville, CA	$293,749	$1,161	$51,952	26.8%	40.1
9	Clearlake, CA	$237,734	$1,379	$41,428	39.9%	40.6
10	Wasco, CA	$316,558	$1,125	$48,021	28.1%	40.9
11	Barstow, CA	$267,171	$1,315	$57,687	27.4%	41.3
12	Lindsay, CA	$314,385	$1,161	$48,783	28.6%	41.4
13	Orange Cove, CA	$296,203	$1,224	$34,522	42.5%	41.4
14	Arvin, CA	$301,171	$1,215	$47,991	30.4%	41.6
15	Coalinga, CA	$295,860	$1,233	$68,152	21.7%	41.6
16	Corning, CA	$297,864	$1,233	$56,724	26.1%	41.7
17	Mc Farland, CA	$311,389	$1,206	$42,587	34%	42.1
18	Orosi, CA	$309,586	$1,224	$49,828	29.5%	42.3
19	Twentynine Palms, CA	$252,242	$1,421	$50,957	33.5%	42.3
20	Magalia, CA	$270,247	$1,377	$58,694	28.2%	42.6

How far below the California norm these towns sit

Every place in the top 20 has a cost index under 43, which means housing costs at least 57% less than in the typical California city or town in the group. The gap is widest on home prices. The most expensive home market in the top 20, Wasco, has a median home value of $316,558, about 40% of the $783,233 peer median. Taft, at $209,086, comes in at about 27% of it.

Rents are compressed into a narrow band. The cheapest average rent in the group is Yreka’s $1,050, and the highest is $1,421 in Twentynine Palms. Even that top figure is only about 52% of the $2,716 peer median rent. A renter moving from a typical California town to Yreka would pay about $1,666 less per month, or roughly $20,000 less per year, before accounting for any change in pay.

For contrast, the most expensive place in the peer group, Rancho Santa Fe, has a cost index of 470.5. That is about 13 times Yreka’s score, which shows how wide the spread of housing costs is among California’s 465 ranked places.

Low housing costs usually come with lower incomes

The towns at the top of this list are not cheap in isolation. Median household incomes across the top 20 range from $33,121 in Lamont to $81,824 in Ridgecrest. Every one of them falls below the $92,701 peer median. The key question for a household is whether housing costs fall further than local incomes do.

A useful benchmark: at the peer-group medians, 12 months of rent ($2,716 × 12) equals about 35% of median household income. The data’s rent-as-percent-of-income figure for each town can be read against that number.

Where cheap rent goes further

• Ridgecrest: rent equals 17.9% of median income, the lowest share in the top 20. Its income of $81,824 is about 88% of the peer median, while its $1,219 rent is about 45% of the peer median rent.
• Susanville: rent at 20% of income, with a median household income of $66,697 and rent of $1,113.
• Coalinga: rent at 21.7% of income, with income of $68,152 and rent of $1,233.
• Yreka: rent at 25.6% of income. Its income ($49,281) is about 53% of the peer median, but its rent is only about 39% of the peer median rent, so housing drops further than pay.

Where cheap rent is still a stretch

• Orange Cove: rent equals 42.5% of median income, the highest share in the top 20. That is well above the roughly 35% peer benchmark, even though its $1,224 rent is less than half the peer median.
• Lamont: 40.8% of income, driven by the lowest median income in the group ($33,121, about 36% of the peer median).
• Clearlake: 39.9% of income, with $1,379 rent against a $41,428 median income.
• Mc Farland (34%) and Twentynine Palms (33.5%) sit close to the peer benchmark despite much lower absolute rents.

In these towns, a low sticker price does not translate into easier housing costs for a household earning the local median. They are most affordable for people who bring income from elsewhere, such as remote workers or retirees, rather than for those relying on local median earnings.

Home prices relative to income

Dividing median home value by median household income gives a rough price-to-income ratio. At the peer medians, that ratio is about 8.4 ($783,233 ÷ $92,701). Most of the top 20 sit far below it, but the spread is large:

• Lowest ratios: Ridgecrest (about 3.3), Susanville (about 4.1), Taft (about 4.2) and Coalinga (about 4.3). These are the strongest cases for buyers earning near the local median.
• Highest ratios: Orange Cove (about 8.6, slightly above the peer benchmark), Lamont (about 7.5), Mc Farland (about 7.3) and Wasco (about 6.6). Home prices here are low in dollar terms but not low relative to local incomes.

Taft stands out for buyers specifically. It has the cheapest median home value in the top 20 ($209,086) and a moderate price-to-income ratio, though its $1,240 rent is higher than several neighbors on the list. Wasco is the reverse: its rent of $1,125 ties Lamont for the second-lowest in the group, but its home value is the highest of the 20.

Price momentum: which cheap markets are moving

One-year home value changes across the top 20 range from a 1.3% decline to a 7.4% gain.

• Corning posted the largest increase at 7.4%, followed by Susanville at 5.7%, Orange Cove at 4.2% and Lindsay at 4%.
• Magalia (−1.3%) and Wasco (−0.3%) were the only two with declines. Ridgecrest (0.2%), Taft (0.6%) and Barstow (0.7%) were nearly flat.

Faster appreciation can be appealing for owners and investors, but it also means the entry price is rising. Flat markets such as Ridgecrest and Taft offer more predictable purchase costs, with less recent price growth. A single year of data is a limited signal, so these figures describe recent direction rather than a forecast.

Patterns across the list

The data does not tag places by county or region, so the clearest patterns come from the numbers themselves. Three groups emerge:

1. Balanced affordability: Ridgecrest, Susanville, Coalinga and, to a lesser degree, Yreka and Corning combine low housing costs with relatively stronger incomes. Rent takes 26% or less of the local median income in each.
2. Lowest absolute costs: Yreka, Taft, Lamont, Avenal and Corcoran hold the five lowest cost indexes outside Susanville, all between 35.9 and 38.9. Avenal and Corcoran share identical rents ($1,179) and identical rent-to-income shares (27.3%).
3. Cheap but income-constrained: Orange Cove, Lamont, Clearlake and Mc Farland combine low prices with the lowest incomes, so rent consumes a third or more of median household income.

Town size is another dividing line. Barstow (34,226 residents), Ridgecrest (33,490) and Twentynine Palms (30,944) are the largest places in the top 20. Yreka (10,154), Orange Cove (10,157) and Magalia (10,163) sit just above the 10,000-resident cutoff for the peer group.

Who each option suits

• Renters on a tight budget: Yreka has the lowest average rent in the group at $1,050. Susanville ($1,113), Lamont and Wasco (both $1,125) are close behind.
• First-time buyers: Taft has the lowest median home value. Ridgecrest and Susanville pair sub-$272,000 home values with the strongest price-to-income ratios on the list.
• Households earning near the local median: Ridgecrest, Susanville and Coalinga, where rent takes the smallest share of income.
• Buyers watching price trends: Corning and Susanville show the most recent appreciation. Ridgecrest, Taft and Barstow have been nearly flat.
• People bringing outside income: Lamont, Orange Cove and Clearlake offer low absolute costs, but local incomes make them strained for households relying on local pay.

Investors comparing rents with purchase prices can cross-reference this ranking with Repit’s lists of affordable cities to start investing and cities for cash flow. Statewide context is on the California housing and cost of living page.

What this ranking does and doesn’t measure

The cost index reflects housing only: rent and home values. It does not include groceries, utilities, transportation, taxes, insurance or commuting costs. It also does not measure job availability, wage growth, school quality or local services. The income figures are medians for residents, not a guide to what a newcomer would earn locally. Readers weighing a move should use these rankings as a starting point on housing costs, then check individual place pages for the schools, colleges and career data Repit tracks at the local level.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest place to live in California in 2026?

Yreka ranks first among 465 California cities and towns with 10,000+ residents, with a cost index of 35.9, average rent of $1,050 a month and a median home value of $259,370.

Where in California can you buy the cheapest house?

Among the top 20 cheapest places, Taft has the lowest median home value at $209,086, about 27% of the $783,233 median across the peer group.

Are the cheapest places in California actually affordable for locals?

It varies. In Ridgecrest, rent equals 17.9% of median household income, but in Orange Cove it equals 42.5% and in Lamont 40.8%, because local incomes there are very low.

How much cheaper is rent in the cheapest California towns?

Average rents in the top 20 range from $1,050 to $1,421 a month, compared with a peer-group median of $2,716. Even the highest rent on the list is about 52% of the typical California rent.

Which cheap California town has the highest income?

Ridgecrest has the highest median household income in the top 20 at $81,824, about 88% of the $92,701 peer median, while its average rent is $1,219.

Sources and methodology

Home values and rents are Repit's ZIP-level estimates as of September 2026, averaged across each city's ZIP codes; household income and population are from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2022), population-weighted. ZIP codes that fail Repit's data-quality checks are excluded. The cost index averages rent and home value relative to the median of California cities and towns with 10,000+ residents; it covers housing costs only, not groceries, taxes, transportation or insurance.