No California metro area had a below-average cost-of-living in 2022. There were 12 such areas in 2016. My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the annual “price parity” data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis that compares what it costs to live in 384 US metropolitan areas, including 26 from California. California “bargains” are rare, historically speaking. The state had four metros with below average costs in 2021, six in 2020 but just one in 2018. So what happen between 2016 – the state’s most recent affordability peak – and 2022? Well, California had the top nine metros for cost-of-living increases, by this math. And 13 from…
