Maybe some year soon, housing in California will become a manageable expense for the masses.
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Until then, you’ll have to read more rankings that detail how unaffordable Golden State life can be.
For example, my trusty spreadsheet found the metro area comprising Los Angeles and Orange counties as the nation’s most unaffordable, with six California housing markets ranked among the nation’s eight biggest affordability headaches.
Let me explain.
Affordability challenges were graded three ways, using recent stats from the real estate tracker Zillow to create a broad measure of housing’s financial burden across 50 large U.S. housing markets – including the six in California.
First, ponder crowded housing, a signal of affordability stress, as the share of families living with other families. This includes across all housing settings, ownership or rental, between 2019 and 2024.
Next, for buyers, think about the relative cost of homes for sale in May: the share of listings that were “affordable” as measured by house payments not exceeding 30% of income.
And finally, for tenants, cogitate how much of the local paychecks go to the landlord: the ratio of May’s rents to incomes.
It added up to L.A.-Orange County deemed the most unaffordable based on its overall housing-cost grade, which combines the 50-market rankings for these three affordability yardsticks.
Note how poorly L.A.-Orange County scored.
Families that were doubling up equaled 9% of all L.A.-Orange County homes, the fourth-highest share among the 50 metros. Only 5% of L.A.-Orange County homes on the market were “affordable” – the smallest share in the nation. And local rents ran 34% of incomes, the third-highest ratio.
It’s only slightly better than the nation’s second-worst spot for affordability – San Diego County.
It had 9.5% of its families “doubled up ” – No. 3 among the metros. Only 10% of its listings were affordable, and it also received the third-worst grade. And San Diego’s 31% rent-to-income was fifth-highest.
Elsewhere in California
No. 4 was San Jose, with 10% doubled up, the nation’s highest. Only 13.7% of listings were affordable, the nation’s fourth-worst. And a 25% rent-to-income ratio ranked No. 15.
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No. 5 was San Francisco, with 9.7% doubled up, No. 2 among the 50. Its 16% affordable listings were ninth-worst. And a 27% rent-to-income ranked No. 11.
The Inland Empire was No. 6, with 7% doubled up (No. 11). Its 15% affordable listings were No. 8. And a 31% rent-to-income ratio was fourth-worst.
No. 8 Sacramento’s 8% share of doubled-up families ranked ninth-highest. Its 14% affordable listings were No. 6, and a 26% rent-to-income ratio was No. 13.
The only metros among the eight most unaffordable not from the Golden State?
No. 3 Boston and New York, which tied the Inland Empire for sixth-worst.
Nationally speaking
Contemplate the national housing burden compared to the Golden State’s mess, as measured by the median results from these six California metro areas.
Just 6% of American families are “doubled up” vs. 9% in California. That’s one-third less.
Nationwide, 35% of listings are “affordable’ vs. 14% in the Golden State. That’s 2.5 times more.
And the typical American renter pays 27% of their income to the landlord, compared with 29% in California. Surprisingly, a narrow gap.
By the way, if you want the best housing bargain in the nation, this math says consider relocating to St. Louis, which earned the best affordability score.
Only 4% of St. Louis families double up, 59% of homes for sale are affordable, and the typical rent is only 20% of income.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]
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