During a break in the fog, the afternoon sun shines on historic downtown Salinas, California.
MattGush/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The predominantly working-class city of Salinas, California is the seventh most expensive U.S. city to live in, according to a new list from US News & World Report.
On the list, Salinas ranks just behind San Francisco, which is ranked sixth, and ahead of New York City, which is ranked 11th.
The US News & World Report list ranked cities by comparing “how comfortably the average resident of each metropolitan area can afford to live within their means.” During the calculation, the income and housing costs for renters and homeowners are weighed against each other.
While the actual cost of living in Salinas may be significantly lower than in San Francisco, the differences between average annual income, average house price, and average monthly rent are comparable. The average home in Salinas costs $925,458, dwarfing the city’s average wage of $56,350. In San Francisco, however, the average home costs $1,122,946 and the average salary is $86,590, the report said.
Advertising
The article continues below this ad
California cities took seven of the top 10 spots on the list, with San Diego and Los Angeles being the most and second most expensive, respectively. The Bay Area city of Santa Rosa ranked eighth on the list.
Salinas lies at the mouth of California’s Salinas Valley, nicknamed the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and many residents work in agriculture. Whether the U.S. News list refers to Salinas, the city or the entire greater Salinas area, which includes the wealthy coastal communities of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, is unclear in the report, but locals cite the cost of that Life in the city is high.
Joaquin Turner, who commutes from Salinas to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he runs a gallery, told SFGATE that rents in Salinas are “really high” right now. US News put the city’s average monthly rent at $1,718.
“We think of Salinas as more affordable,” he said, “but if you compare it to the rest of the U.S. or even other parts of California, Salinas is still quite expensive.”
Advertising
The article continues below this ad
SFGATE reached out to US News for clarification on the report but did not receive a response in time for publication.
This story has been updated.