These cities were named California’s best. See how home prices in each metro have grown

Mila Jasper
·1 min read

San Francisco might be a great place to live, but its home prices sure aren’t welcoming.

When U.S. News and World Report ranked its “Best Places to Live for 2021-2022,” San Francisco came out on top compared to other cities in California.

But in a state where housing costs are already intimidating, San Francisco had the largest increase in home prices out of all of the top 10 cities since Jan. 1, 2021 — 18.29% change in median home price — according to data from Redfin.

Sacramento, ranked fourth on the list, saw median home prices change by 15.5% since the beginning of the year, according to the data. Salinas came last both in the top 10 ranking and also in median home sale price growth, posting a 5.63% change.

Data was not available for Santa Barbara, though it was ranked in the top 10. According to Zillow, homes in Santa Barbara typically cost more than $1.5 million, and home values have increased by 27.9% in the past year.

Check out the data below to see where the metro areas of the top 10 cities stack up.

And here’s the full ranking for California’s top 10 cities, as determined by U.S. News and World Report:

  • San Francisco

  • San Jose

  • San Diego

  • Sacramento

  • Santa Barbara

  • Santa Rosa

  • Los Angeles

  • Vallejo & Fairfield

  • Fresno

  • Salinas

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our California Utility Team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email utilityteam@sacbee.com.

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