Generations of Americans have been lured west by the dream of California living — but living in California isn’t cheap. Notorious for high housing costs, high taxes and a high cost of living, the Golden State is one of the priciest places in America to drop anchor.
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Unless you’re buying a home, you’ll have to rent a place when you get there. When you do, you should expect to spend hundreds of dollars more per month than the national average whether your pad has one bedroom or four. Even so, there are still a handful of places that — while not exactly cheap — are still manageable.
Using data from ApartmentList, GOBankingRates identified the California cities and towns where the average renter pays less than $2,006 per month, which is the average in the Golden State. That, however, wasn’t the only criteria. The rankings also considered each city’s cost of living, which was quantified with data from Sperling’s Best Place and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as well as each town’s livability score, which was sourced from AreaVibes. The total score summarizes all factors — lower is better — and the list is ranked from least affordable to most.
Here are the top places to rent in California.
