South San Francisco, CA scores 58/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile,…
State overview
Best Cities in California
Compare cities in California by overall MoveScore, affordability, safety, and livability.
Use this state hub to jump into the strongest city profiles, explore the main ranking paths, and compare which parts of California fit your priorities best.
Explore cities across California
Compare cities by what matters most — affordability, safety, lifestyle, and long-term livability.
Best Overall
Top cities ranked by total MoveScore and balanced livability.
Most Affordable
Lower-cost cities with stronger value and housing potential.
Safest Cities
Cities with stronger safety profiles and lower relocation risk.
Best for Families
Prioritizes schools, safety, and everyday family livability.
Best for Retirees
Comfort, cost, and day-to-day ease for retirement moves.
Young Professionals
Cities with stronger convenience, jobs, and everyday lifestyle fit.
Rankings Hub
Browse all state ranking paths and category combinations.
City Directory
Expand your search beyond California and compare nationwide.
How to choose the right city in California
Start broad, then narrow by what matters most. Users looking for lower costs can move into the cheapest-city rankings, while safety-first moves, family moves, and retiree moves can branch into more specific ranking pages.
The city cards below are ordered by overall MoveScore so you can start with the strongest all-around options before diving deeper into cost, safety, and lifestyle trade-offs.
Top cities in California
These city profiles are ordered by overall MoveScore. The strongest all-around options currently include Simi Valley, CA, Vallejo, CA, Yuba City, CA.
San Luis Obispo, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile,…
Menlo Park, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Mountain View, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Pleasant Hill, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
San Pablo, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Redwood City, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Seal Beach, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Cypress, CA
57
Cypress, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a mixed…
Explore more California rankings
Use these internal paths to compare cities through a different lens before you keep scrolling through all city profiles.
Milpitas, CA
57
Milpitas, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a mixed…
San Rafael, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Belmont, CA
57
Belmont, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a stronger…
Claremont, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a mixed…
Santa Barbara, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
Lawndale, CA
57
Lawndale, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a more…
Berkeley, CA
57
Berkeley, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a more…
Montclair, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a more…
South Pasadena, CA scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a relatively expensive cost profile, a…
How to use this California hub
This page works best as the middle layer between statewide ranking pages and individual city profiles. Start here if you want a broad overview of the strongest city options in California, then branch into more specific ranking paths based on affordability, safety, family fit, retirement fit, or young-professional priorities.
From here, you can move deeper into city-level profiles for detail, or sideways into ranking pages to compare the same state through different relocation priorities.