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.

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 Overpriced
Beverly Hills
Ratio: 27.58x
Top 25 Average Ratio
14.67x
Home value vs local income
Unaffordability Benchmark
5.0x
International definition

Full Rankings

#CityPrice/Income RatioHome ValueAnnual IncomePop.
1Beverly Hills, CA27.58x$3,667,785$132,97731,624
2Newport Beach, CA23.57x$3,697,219$156,86783,845
3Santa Barbara, CA17.18x$1,824,406$106,18287,779
4Burlingame, CA16.16x$2,811,802$174,00030,525
5Manhattan Beach, CA16.09x$3,286,680$204,30634,210
6Spring Valley, NY15.65x$894,916$57,19633,192
7Palo Alto, CA15.42x$3,563,763$231,10167,237
8Kiryas Joel, NY15.17x$758,800$50,03238,916
9San Luis Obispo, CA14.74x$1,086,045$73,68548,491
10Santa Monica, CA14.51x$1,667,060$114,88591,169
11Westmont, CA13.80x$696,822$50,50934,123
12Menlo Park, CA13.65x$2,866,713$210,02532,727
13Berkeley, CA13.37x$1,445,049$108,092120,257
14Glendale, CA13.36x$1,180,773$88,393190,748
15Westminster, CA12.80x$1,095,037$85,54189,860
16Campbell, CA12.69x$1,843,263$145,26842,781
17Costa Mesa, CA12.66x$1,411,696$111,505110,330
18Cupertino, CA12.64x$2,965,725$234,70758,566
19San Clemente, CA12.45x$1,743,951$140,06263,273
20Dana Point, CA12.41x$1,755,567$141,52032,790
21Rosemead, CA12.22x$899,017$73,56650,013
22Arcadia, CA12.17x$1,381,933$113,51655,170
23San Gabriel, CA12.14x$1,098,283$90,48838,392
24Burbank, CA12.12x$1,176,932$97,082104,546
25El Cajon, CA12.11x$817,309$67,511104,449
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 →