Top 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. – California Not Even in Top 100 -

California is in a DOOM LOOP—and nationally it is now recognized.

“In the newly released 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2025-2026, Frisco and Carmel are in the top 100 – but not San Francisco, California or Carmel, California – Frisco, Texas and Carmel, Indiana are more desirable on this list than California’s legendary coastal cities.

California doesn’t even make the US News best places to live top 10, top 50 or top 100. Could it be that California’s cities filled with drug addicted homeless vagrants living on the streets is a deal breaker for many? Or could it be our highest gas prices in the nation, highest taxes and regulations, failing public schools, trans agenda, biological men in women”s sports, “wildfire season,” high crime, largest illegal alien population in the country, our egomaniac governor and unstable Democrat supermajority makes people think twice?

Not one California city in the top 100 in the nation as a great place to live. This explains why firms and families are fleeing the State.

Top 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. – California Not Even in Top 100

California doesn’t even make the US News best places to live Top 10, Top 50 or Top 100

By Katy Grimes, California Globe, 5/22/25 https://californiaglobe.com/fl/top-250-best-places-to-live-in-the-u-s-california-not-even-in-top-100/

In the newly released 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2025-2026, Frisco and Carmel are in the top 100 – but not San Francisco, California or Carmel, California – Frisco, Texas and Carmel, Indiana are more desirable on this list than California’s legendary coastal cities.

These are the U.S. News: Best Places to Live in 2025-26 Top 10 – notably, three of the 10 cities are in Texas, and two in North Carolina:

Johns Creek, GA
Carmel, IN
Pearland, TX
Fisgers, IN
Cary, NC
League City, TX
Apex, NC
Leander, TX
Rochester Hills, MI
Troy, MI

Texas really dominated the top 100 with 28 cities listed.

Folsom, is the first California city to make an appearance at #119 with the median home value of $690,077, and the median rent is $1,818. The job market in Folsom is better than the national average. Unemployment in Folsom is lower than the national average of 4.5%. The median household income in Folsom is $145,991, compared with the national median household income of $79,466.

The next California showing is Palo Alto at #148, with a median home value of $2,764,855. The median household income in Palo Alto is $223,951, compared with the national median household income of $79,466.

Cupertino, CA came in at #151 with a median home value of $2,556,054.

San Ramon, CA came in at #180

I am partial to #45, Katy, Texas, where the median home value is $343,597. The national average home value is $370,489, so Katy, TX offers a less costly value of living compared to similarly sized cities.

U.S. News analyzed each city’s quality of life, value index, job market, and desirability.

Quality of Life included:

Quality of Education
Quality and Availability of Health Care
Air Quality Index
Environmental Risk
State Economy
State Infrastructure

The Value Index measured how comfortably the average resident of each city can afford to live within their means:

Housing Affordability Index: This is determined by dividing the blended annual housing cost by the blended median annual household income for each city.
Cost of Living Index: We used AGS’s Cost of Living index, which is a combination of analysis of costs from various sources for retail goods, shelter, gasoline (for automobiles) and utilities.

Desirability Index measured crime, weather, culture and commute.

The Job Market Index measured the strength of each city’s job market, Unemployment Rate and Median Household Income.

How far California has fallen to not even register in Quality of Life, affordability,