State guides
Cheapest cities in California
The lowest cost-of-living cities across California.
Where California is most affordable: the cities (30k+ residents) with the lowest cost-of-living index in the state.
Published by WhereToHQ research. Calculated from committed source data with no generated editorial text.
What the ranking shows
- Oildale, CA leads this list at 98 for cost of living index.
- Across the 15 published entries, cost of living index ranges from 98 to 107. The other columns show tradeoffs that the headline order cannot capture.
| # | City | Cost of living index | Median home price | 2-bedroom rent | Median household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oildale, CA35k | 98 | $238,800 | $1,241/mo | $51,298 |
| 2 | Porterville, CA63k | 99 | $285,700 | $1,095/mo | $60,461 |
| 3 | Calexico, CA39k | 100 | $313,600 | $1,084/mo | $49,783 |
| 4 | Delano, CA52k | 101 | $301,900 | $1,187/mo | $67,010 |
| 5 | El Centro, CA44k | 101 | $323,100 | $1,086/mo | $53,082 |
| 6 | Coachella, CA43k | 101 | $367,600 | $941/mo | $68,596 |
| 7 | Hanford, CA60k | 103 | $349,400 | $1,171/mo | $76,461 |
| 8 | Tulare, CA71k | 104 | $329,800 | $1,285/mo | $72,410 |
| 9 | Madera, CA68k | 104 | $359,900 | $1,205/mo | $63,933 |
| 10 | Atwater, CA32k | 104 | $363,400 | $1,160/mo | $64,472 |
| 11 | Adelanto, CA38k | 105 | $349,100 | $1,314/mo | $68,685 |
| 12 | Desert Hot Springs, CA33k | 106 | $354,800 | $1,366/mo | $52,761 |
| 13 | Bakersfield, CA412k | 107 | $371,700 | $1,327/mo | $80,540 |
| 14 | Victorville, CA138k | 107 | $385,600 | $1,276/mo | $74,410 |
| 15 | Redding, CA93k | 107 | $382,300 | $1,309/mo | $70,466 |
Ranked from public data we track (US Census/ACS, BLS, EIA, FEMA, NOAA, Tax Foundation) and recomputed on every data refresh. Figures are estimates for comparison, not advice; open any city to see all facets.
Candidate rules: cities in CA; 30,000 or more residents. Ranking rule: Cost of living index, lowest first.
WhereToHQ loads at most the 500 largest eligible national candidates, or 300 candidates for a state list, before applying the published rules. Missing values are excluded from a direct sort or hard filter. In a weighted score, an unknown value is neutral rather than favorable.