California Is the Least Affordable of Any State (2026)

Name: Most affordable cities and states, The Honest Local
Creator: The Honest Local
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Least Affordable States, read from the other end of our most affordable states list. Same readings, same sources, all 50 states.

By The Honest Local · 50 states · every value links to its public source

13California leads on The Honest Local Affordability Score, all 50 statesWhat a household actually pays for a home, the basics and taxes, weighed against what people there earn, blended into one number.

The top five states Affordability Score out of 100, and the readings behind it

No. 1California1313 score (0-100, higher = more affordable)
No. 2New York19.919.9 score (0-100, higher = more affordable)
No. 3Hawaii25.625.6 score (0-100, higher = more affordable)
No. 4Washington2828 score (0-100, higher = more affordable)
No. 5New Jersey29.929.9 score (0-100, higher = more affordable)

Least Affordable States on the map

Affordability Score, states hover for the numbers, click for every one

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The Honest Local's own recipe, housing and everyday costs weighed against local income and taxes, blended into one score, with cities and states ranked separately.

Least Affordable States, all 50

The full ranking most score, 0 to 100

	Place	Affordability Scoreout of 100	Housing	Everyday	Taxes
1	California	13	88	33	2828
2	New York	19.9	2424	1919	1616
3	Hawaii	25.6	66	33	6868
4	Washington	28	2727	3232	2525
5	New Jersey	29.9	4141	1919	3030
6	the US Virgin Islands	30.1	no reading	3030	no reading
7	Massachusetts	31.3	2121	2929	4444
8	Rhode Island	35.3	3636	3030	4141
9	Maine	40.3	4343	2727	5151
10	Vermont	41.3	5757	2929	3737
11	Connecticut	42.4	6464	2727	3636
12	Illinois	46.1	9494	2121	2323
13	Montana	46.6	1818	5454	6868
14	New Hampshire	47.4	4747	3030	6565
15	Colorado	48.3	4141	4242	6262
16	Idaho	48.6	2424	5151	7171
17	Minnesota	50.7	8484	3838	3030
18	Utah	51.8	4040	5454	6262
19	Alaska	53.3	7676	1313	7272
20	New Mexico	54.1	5656	5858	4848
21	Nevada	55	4040	5656	7070
22	Arizona	55.1	4545	5454	6666
23	Maryland	55.4	8282	3232	5252
24	Wisconsin	56.5	7575	4949	4545
25	Pennsylvania	57.4	8989	2626	5757
26	Virginia	58.5	7272	4040	6464
27	Georgia	59.1	7878	5252	4747
28	Florida	59.8	5252	5858	7070
29	Delaware	60.1	6161	4848	7272
30	Missouri	60.9	8787	5555	4141
31	Michigan	61.3	9191	3737	5656
32	South Carolina	62.9	7373	6161	5555
33	North Carolina	63.3	6666	6060	6363
34	Texas	63.5	8686	6060	4545
35	Tennessee	65	6060	7777	5858
36	Kansas	65.4	9898	7070	2828
37	Alabama	66.4	8888	6262	5050
38	Wyoming	67.4	5959	5757	8787
39	South Dakota	68.6	7777	6262	6767
40	Nebraska	69.7	9090	7575	4444
41	Ohio	70	9696	6464	5050
42	Iowa	71.3	9999	6262	5353
43	North Dakota	72	8686	7171	5959
44	West Virginia	73.3	100100	5151	6969
45	Oklahoma	74.1	9797	8686	3939
46	Indiana	76	9292	7070	6666
47	Arkansas	77	8888	9191	5252
48	Kentucky	78.5	9191	7373	7272
49	Mississippi	79.2	9595	8080	6262
50	Louisiana	79.4	9393	9393	5252

Sources and method

How we got this. The Affordability Score is The Honest Local’s own recipe. Each source ranks every place on its own from 0 to 100 and the score is the average, so a place has to do well on all of them to lead. We don't publish a cost of living number pulled from one source. We blend three groups, each ranked on its own against every other place that has it, then averaged. Housing is the typical rent over a year and the typical home value, each as a share of the median household income there. Everyday costs are the federal price parity for goods, the best free read on groceries and basics at the metro level, plus the price of gas and of household electricity. Taxes are the combined state and local sales tax, the top state income tax rate and the effective property tax rate. Each of those eight figures ranks every place on its own from 0 to 100, with a lower cost or tax always scoring higher. A group's score is the average of the figures it has, and the final score is the average of the three groups. A place missing a whole group is scored on the rest, never handed a fake zero. Rank 1 is the most affordable. Cities and states rank as two separate lists, never against each other. It refreshes monthly, with the yearly figures (income, price parities, tax rates) updated as each agency publishes.

Rankings by The Honest Local from public data, one page per list, refreshed on each source’s own cycle. Places with no reading are left out rather than estimated. Every value on this page carries its source in the page’s structured data.

Photos Shutterstock/UladzikKryhin · Shutterstock.