2023 Places With The Lowest Cost of Living In California: New Report

CALIFORNIA — California is known for its natural beauty, incredible weather, and career opportunities.

But a low cost of living? Not so much.

That's not to say there aren't any reasonably priced places to live in the Golden State, you just have to get away from the cities and suburbs close to the coast.

Rankings website Niche.com did all of the legwork to find low housing costs, good schools, and other desirable qualities in a community. It has now published its "2023 Places with the Lowest Cost of Living in California."

These neighborhoods won't make you choose between paying your mortgage or buying groceries while living there.

At the top of the rankings is Desert Edge, a community in Riverside County where the median home value is $52,100. It was rated A- for Cost of Living, B+ for Diversity, B for Housing and B overall. Niche reports, "Living in Desert Edge offers residents a suburban rural mix feel and most residents own their homes. Many retirees live in Desert Edge and residents tend to lean conservative."

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Another town worth a look is Ridgecrest. It was rated A for Diversity, A- for Public Schools, B+ for Housing, B+ for Good for Families, B for Nightlife, and A- overall. The median home value in Ridgecrest is $193,700 while the median rent is $983 — both are below the national average. Niche reports, "Living in Ridgecrest offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Ridgecrest there are a lot of parks. Many families and young professionals live in Ridgecrest and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Ridgecrest are highly rated." One resident who gave Ridgecrest a five-star rating gave this review, "It's an incredible little valley town in between the White Mountains and Eastern Sierras... So the views are BEYOND incredible!"

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Here's Niche's Top 50 places in California with the lowest cost of living.

1. Desert Edge
2. Big River
3. Alturas
4. Upper Lake
5. East Valley
6. Oasis
7. Lenwood
8. Burney
9. Ridgecrest
10. Morada
11. China Lake Acres
12. Needles
13. Gerber
14. Barstow
15. Mojave
16. Blythe
17. Orosi
18. West Park
19. Taft Heights
20. Coalinga
21. Nice
22. Holtville
23. Taft
24. Strathmore
25. Johnstonville

26. Sky Valley
27. Calipatria
28. Lakeport
29. Susanville
30. Farmersville
31. Golden Hills
32. Earlimart
33. South Taft
34. Calwa
35. Easton
36. Portola
37. Avenal
38. Corcoran
39. Soulsbyville
40. Cutler
41. Lankershim
42. South Oroville
43. Ivanhoe
44. Mi-Wuk Village
45. Goshen
46. California City
47. Ford City
48. Shackelford
49. Yreka
50. Heber

View the complete listing for "2023 Places with the Lowest Cost of Living in California."