The California agricultural city is almost as expensive as San Francisco, the report says

The majority working-class city of Salinas, California, is the seventh most expensive American city to live in, according to a new report. US News and World Report existing.

The list places Salinas just behind San Francisco, which ranks sixth, and ahead of New York City, which ranks 11th.

The US News & World Report list ranked cities by comparing “how comfortably the average citizen in each metro area can live within their means.” The calculation includes weighing income against housing costs for renters and homeowners.

While the actual cost of living in Salinas may be much lower than in San Francisco, the gaps between average annual income, average home price, and average monthly rent are comparable. The median home in Salinas costs $925,458, which dwarfs the city’s median salary of $56,350. In San Francisco, the average cost of a home is $1,122,946, and the average salary is $86,590, according to the report.

California cities made up seven of the top 10 spots on the list, with San Diego and Los Angeles ranking first and second, respectively. The city of Santa Rosa in the Bay Area ranked eighth on the list.

Salinas is located at the mouth of California’s Salinas Valley, which has been called the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and many residents work in agriculture. Whether the US News list refers to Salinas, the city, or the entire Salinas metro area, which includes the affluent oceanfront communities of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, is unclear in the report, but locals say the cost of living in the city is high.

Joaquin Turner, who commutes from Salinas to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he runs a gallery, told SFGATE that rents in Salinas are “really high” right now. U.S. News pegged the city’s average monthly rent at $1,718.

“We think Salinas is less expensive, but if you look at it compared to the rest of the United States, or even other parts of California, Salinas is still very expensive,” he said.

SFGATE reached out to US News to clarify the report, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

This story has been updated.