Rankings

25 Most Expensive Cities in America

The priciest cities in the United States by composite Cost of Living Index, based on housing costs and rental prices from the U.S. Census Bureau.

1 source baseline is past its update cadence — newer official vintage not reflected

2026 edition — based on ACS 2024, Zillow 2026-08, HUD FY2027, and BEA 2024 dated sources. The edition year is not the observation year.

Exact ranking sample: 1,531 cities with uncapped home, rent, and income estimates.

#1 Most Expensive
Newport Beach
Index: 533
Avg Home Premium
+$1,910,667
above national average
#1 Median Home
$3,697,219
National: $303,400

Full Rankings

#CityIndexHome ValueRentIncome
1Newport Beach, CA533$3,697,219$4,375$156,867
2Beverly Hills, CA528$3,667,785$4,193$132,977
3Palo Alto, CA520$3,563,763$4,678$231,101
4Manhattan Beach, CA513$3,286,680$6,801$204,306
5Cupertino, CA447$2,965,725$4,375$234,707
6Menlo Park, CA439$2,866,713$4,305$210,025
7Burlingame, CA428$2,811,802$3,903$174,000
8Los Gatos, CA401$2,574,478$4,236$217,554
9Sunnyvale, CA331$1,994,916$3,932$186,170
10Mountain View, CA330$1,931,886$4,536$189,917
11Encinitas, CA329$1,919,733$4,324$162,229
12Redwood City, CA323$1,878,298$4,146$157,814
13Foster City, CA321$1,835,177$4,417$199,143
14Danville, CA316$1,824,794$4,112$232,216
15Rancho Palos Verdes, CA314$1,786,583$4,505$179,623
16Dana Point, CA309$1,755,567$4,324$141,520
17Campbell, CA308$1,843,263$3,471$145,268
18Santa Barbara, CA307$1,824,406$3,692$106,182
19San Mateo, CA297$1,672,329$3,917$153,504
20San Clemente, CA297$1,743,951$3,426$140,062
21Santa Clara, CA291$1,646,715$3,957$178,958
22Santa Monica, CA288$1,667,060$3,438$114,885
23Carlsbad, CA282$1,593,241$3,556$142,748
24Lexington, MA281$1,574,814$3,902$238,444
25San Francisco, CA277$1,424,767$4,682$140,970
Methodology: Rankings use our composite Cost of Living Index. Only cities with population > 30,000 are included. See full methodology →

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