Market Analysis

25 Most Overpriced Housing Markets in America

Ranking cities by their Price-to-Income Ratio. A healthy housing market typically has a ratio between 3.0 and 5.0. Cities significantly above this threshold present severe barriers to entry for local wage earners.

Source dates vary by dataset

Exact ranking sample: 1,510 cities with uncapped home, rent, and income estimates.

#1 Most Overpriced
Beverly Hills
Ratio: 27.98x
Top 25 Average Ratio
15.00x
Home value vs local income
Unaffordability Benchmark
5.0x
International definition

Full Rankings

#CityPrice/Income RatioHome ValueAnnual IncomePop.
1Beverly Hills, CA27.98x$3,580,741$127,97931,955
2Newport Beach, CA22.52x$3,569,308$158,46184,304
3Santa Barbara, CA17.68x$1,797,687$101,67288,024
4Saratoga, CA16.91x$4,080,286$241,34830,335
5Palo Alto, CA16.42x$3,619,229$220,40867,231
6Manhattan Beach, CA16.30x$3,159,767$193,90434,584
7San Luis Obispo, CA16.14x$1,077,043$66,71148,039
8Burlingame, CA15.96x$2,694,998$168,83230,526
9Kiryas Joel, NY15.89x$685,800$43,17136,572
10Santa Monica, CA15.35x$1,684,070$109,73991,535
11Westmont, CA14.46x$692,545$47,89934,291
12Glendale, CA14.00x$1,179,321$84,262192,270
13Cupertino, CA13.50x$3,121,347$231,13958,886
14Menlo Park, CA13.45x$2,778,631$206,58832,775
15Campbell, CA13.17x$1,937,114$147,12842,848
16Westminster, CA12.99x$1,074,130$82,68690,147
17Berkeley, CA12.81x$1,391,090$108,558120,223
18San Gabriel, CA12.64x$1,107,200$87,59238,764
19Rosemead, CA12.56x$907,461$72,24850,340
20Costa Mesa, CA12.55x$1,381,297$110,073110,538
21San Clemente, CA12.52x$1,686,268$134,73563,510
22Bell Gardens, CA12.38x$685,336$55,37238,661
23Burbank, CA12.34x$1,182,521$95,816105,165
24Los Gatos, CA12.29x$2,554,572$207,89132,773
25El Cajon, CA12.19x$810,633$66,478104,909
Methodology: The Price-to-Income ratio separates median home value by the median household income. It's a standard international benchmark for measuring housing market affordability for local workers. See full methodology →