10 best places to live in California

It's that time again folks— It's FRIDAY. And you know what that means?  Time for a "Top 10 Friday" post!  I know…we're excited too. 

California is a beautiful state. With balmy temperatures year-round, beaches and amusement parks, who wouldn't want to live there? And that got us thinking…wonder what cities would be considered the best places to live in California? After a little research, I found a study published at Yahoo! that looks at the best places to live in California based on household income, educational attainment and property crime rates— those seem like good criteria to choose a great place to live! For our purposes today (since it's Top 10 Friday), we'll just look at the top 10…and here they are:

  1. Los Altos Hills, CA
  2. Portola Valley, CA
  3. Hillsborough, CA
  4. Belvedere, CA
  5. Palos Verdes Estates, CA
  6. Saratoga, CA
  7. Atherton, CA
  8. Hidden Hills, CA
  9. San Marino, CA
  10. Monte Sereno, CA

I found it interesting that none of the "big" ones are on the list. I expected to see great cities like San Diego, San Francisco, Laguna Beach, Malibu, etc. on the list. But these smaller locations just happen to be right on the outskirts of some of the larger metro areas…which makes them all the more appealing. Smaller cities with big city amenities close by. It's a win, win.