HomePriceMap tracks 58 counties in California. The typical (median) county in the state has a home value of $509,774, which is +115.1% above the U.S. national county median of $236,981. Below are the most expensive and most affordable counties in California by current median home value.
This ranks each county by its median home value divided by its median household income — how many years of a typical local income it would take to buy a typical local home. Housing researchers generally treat about 3× income as manageable and 5× or more as severely stretched. Coverage is 58 of 58 tracked counties in California; income figures come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and home values from Zillow.
Violent crime rates below are a population-weighted average of each county's reporting cities from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, covering 48 of 58 tracked counties in California. Counties with no FBI-reporting city aren't shown.
Santa Clara County has the highest median home value in California at $1,624,356. This is often searched as the "richest" or "wealthiest" county in California — though it's worth being precise about what's being measured here: median home value reflects property prices, not household income or net worth. The two usually correlate, but a county can have expensive homes without having the highest-earning residents, particularly in areas with a lot of vacation or second homes.
Santa Clara County has the highest median household income in California at $164,281. If what you're really after is the "richest" or "wealthiest" county in California, this is the closer answer — income measures what households actually earn each year, while home values measure what property costs. Neither is quite the same as wealth, which would also account for savings, investments and property people already own outright.
Modoc County has the lowest median home value of the 58 California counties tracked here, at $198,633. Keep in mind that low home prices often reflect limited local job markets, distance from major metro areas, or shrinking population — affordability alone doesn't tell you whether somewhere is a good fit.
The typical (median) county in California has a home value of $509,774, against $236,981 for the median U.S. county — roughly 115.1% higher. Figures come from Zillow's Home Value Index and are refreshed daily on this site.