Compare cities and metro areas ranked by the 2024 BEA cost-of-living index in California. 25 metro areas are available.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, El Centro, CA has the lowest overall Regional Price Parity in this California ranking at 95.2. The national average is 100, so this comparison identifies the lowest relative price level among the metro areas BEA reports; it does not estimate a household budget or citywide inflation.
A data-shaped reading
The sequence below follows the strongest decision signal in this state's component mix, metro spread, retained-release movement, and national-benchmark coverage.
Component driver
El Centro, CA's rents index is 66.3, compared with 105.2 for goods and 157.2 for services. That places housing 28.9 points below the metro's overall index. This is a deep housing-led discount, so renters capture much more of the headline advantage than owners with a fixed mortgage.
Latest retained release
From 2023 to 2024, El Centro, CA's overall RPP fell by 5.0 points. The largest component move was services, which changed by + 18.6 points. Because RPP is relative to the national price level, this describes movement against the U.S. benchmark, not literal deflation or inflation in a household's bills.
National benchmark coverage
The ranking is split: 3 of 25 listed metros are below 100 and the rest are at or above it. El Centro, CA anchors the lower side, but the state average of 106.1 masks that internal divide. Metro-level rows are the decision unit here.
Strength of the lead
El Centro, CA leads Merced, CA by 3.1 points. That is large enough to distinguish the first row from the immediate alternative, while the 20.4-point statewide range still leaves room for a different metro to fit a job or housing search better.
| # | Metro | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Centro, CA | 95.2 |
| 2 | Merced, CA | 98.3 |
| 3 | Visalia, CA | 99.8 |
| 4 | Redding, CA | 100.7 |
| 5 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | 100.9 |
| 6 | Chico, CA | 101.2 |
| 7 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 101.6 |
| 8 | Fresno, CA | 102.2 |
| 9 | Modesto, CA | 104.1 |
| 10 | Yuba City, CA | 104.2 |
| 11 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 105.1 |
| 12 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 106.4 |
| 13 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 106.7 |
| 14 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 107.8 |
| 15 | Vallejo, CA | 108.5 |
| 16 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 108.6 |
| 17 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 108.8 |
| 18 | Salinas, CA | 109.0 |
| 19 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 109.9 |
| 20 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 110.4 |
| 21 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 110.5 |
| 22 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 111.9 |
| 23 | Napa, CA | 112.6 |
| 24 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 113.6 |
| 25 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 115.6 |
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities Index where national average = 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.