California Best & Worst Lists

Californians love lists and use them quite a bit to prove a point or bolster claims about being great places to live, work & play. If you visit a chamber of commerce, city or destination management website you'll often see "brags" listing " best beach in USA," best city to visit, best housing, best place to live, etc. The methodology for published lists can be as simple as opinion-based, popularity rank based on perception of surveyed audience or statistical analysis. 

Best California Lists

California rank in 50 U.S. States

• #1 Best Weather
• #1 Low Infant Mortality Rate
• #1 Business Environment
• #2 Low Mortality Rate
• #2 Low Smoking Rate
• #3 Singles
• #3 Public Health
• #3 Economy
• #3 Higher Education
  #4 Low Obesity Rate
• #7 Low Suicide Rate
• #7 Medicare Quality
• #8 Least Dangerous Weather
• #19 Child Wellness Visits
• #24 Health Care Access

MONEY's Best cities to live in U.S.

• # 3 Monterey Park, Calif.
• #18 Santa Monica, Calif.

US NEWS & World Report Best Places to live in U.S.

• #3 San Jose, Calif.
• #16 San Francisco, Calif.
• #22 San Diego, Calif.

SPERLING'S 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S.

• #3 San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles
• #4 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc

ZILLOW Best Cities for Weather in U.S.

• #1 San Diego
• #2 Los Angeles
• #3 San Jose
• #4 San Francisco

AARP 10 Great Sunny Places to Retire in U.S.

• #4 San Diego
• #6 San Luis Obispo

AARP Best Cities to Retire

• no cities in California

America's Best Cities for Public Transportation

• # 7 Davis
• #13 Antioch

NERDWALLET Wealthiest Cities in the U.S.

• #1 Palo Alto
• #2 San Ramon
• #3 Pleasanton
• #4 Newport Beach
• #6 Yorba Linda
• #7 Laguna Niguel
• #8 Redwood City
• #9 Redondo Beach
• #10 Carlsbad

WalletHub Best Cities to Retire in U.S.

• #21 San Francisco ranks #1 for activities
• #23 Los Angeles ranks #5 for activities

WalletHub 10 Most Fun Cities in U.S.

• #7 San Francisco
• #10 San Diego

WalletHub Best Cities to Raise a Family in U.S.

• #5 Fremont
• #9 Irvine
• #13 San Jose
• #24 San Diego

WalletHub Best Cities for Singles in U.S.

• #1 San Francisco
• #4 San Diego
• #10 Los Angeles
• #42 San Jose
• #47 Irvine
• #52 Sacramento

Business Insider Best Cities for Jobs in U.S.

• #22 San Jose

GALLUP Cities with Highest Rates of Exercise in U.S.

• #3 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles
• #5 Santa Rosa
• #10 Chico

Most Popular National Parks in U.S. by Attendance

• #2 Golden Gate National Recreation Area
• #3 Yosemite National Park

California "Worst"

California rank in 50 U.S. States

• #49 Housing Affordability
• #49 Affordability
• #49 Racial Gap in income
• #48 Cost of Living
• #43 Fiscal Stability
• #43 Energy price
• #42 Road quality
• #37 Mental Health

Federation of Tax Administrators

• #1 California Highest State Income Tax in U.S. (13.3% in 2016)

24/7 Wall St. Worst place to live in U.S.

• #9 Merced, Calif.
• # 13 Stockton

FORBES Best States for Business

• #30 California

US BUSINESS INSIDER Worst traffic in U.S.

• #1 Los Angeles
• #2 San Francisco
• #5 San Jose

FORBES Most dangerous cities in the U.S.

• #3 Oakland
• #8 Stockton

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOC. Most polluted cities in U.S. Being in heavy traffic or living near a road increases pollution risks.

• #1 Visalia-Porterville-Hanford
• #2 Bakersfield
• #3 Fresno-Madera
• #4 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland
• #5 Los Angeles-Long Beach
• #6 Modesto-Merced
• #7 El Centro
• #10 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande

U.S. WORLD ATLAS Poorest cities in U.S.

• #12 Merced
• #15 Visalia/Porterville
• #16 Madera

Cities in U.S. with most homeless

• #2 Los Angeles
• #4 San Diego
• #6 San Francisco
• #7 San Jose & Santa Clara

Poorest town in California

• San Joaquin
• Median household income: $24,437
• Poverty rate: 54.2%

Education U.S. States

• #41 California
• Overall grade: C-
• Per pupil spending is 6th lowest
• High school graduation rate is 20th lowest (82%)
• 36% children in Calif. raised in non-English speaking households.
• 70.8% of fourth graders are not proficient in math 
• 72.2% fourth graders not proficient in reading

U.S. News results of McKinsey & Company
Best education by U.S. State
#25 California - 40% college grad
Adult Dental Visits #26
Adult Wellness Visits #36
Child Dental Visits #37
Health Care Affordability #26
Health Insurance Enrollment #25
Health Care Quality #16
Fewest Hospital Readmissions #31
Fewest Nursing Home Citations #18
Low violent crime #38
Low Poverty Rate #32

 

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