The least affordable cities in the US revealed – and THREE are in California

California has hundreds of miles of pristine coastline, year-round sunny weather, dozens of national parks, top cuisine and great job opportunities.

The problem is that life there is not cheap.

It has the most expensive gas at $5 per gallon, and is among the most expensive for groceries and eating out.

Now, a new study from RealtyHop shows just how difficult it is for locals to buy a home there, even with the state’s generally higher salaries.

In fact, California is home to three of the five least affordable places to buy a home in America.

Los Angeles tops the list. There, “average families earning the city’s median income should now expect to spend as much as 99.33 percent of their income on the cost of their own home.”

RealtyHop looked at the average home price in each city and calculated what the payments would be for an average mortgage. They also looked at the average annual income in each city.

The least affordable cities are those where most of the monthly salary goes to the mortgage.

In the case of LA, it was everything.

The average income was based on that of a family – consisting of two adults – and not on that of a single person, who would have an even harder time.

Spending more than 30 percent is considered unaffordable.

Homebuyers in 88 of the major cities should spend more: seven cities more than in April.

In third place, along the LA coast, is Irvine in Orange County. There, families with an average income would have to spend 85 percent on house costs. In addition to the mortgage, these are property insurance and insurance.

As one of the safest cities in the US, close to the beach and the beautiful new $2 billion shopping center, it is a popular place to live.

In fact, homes there cost an average of $1.475 million. That’s more than in LA, but salaries are also higher in Irvine.

At five o’clock is Long Beach, another oceanfront city south of LA. Houses are cheaper at an average of $800,000, but lower salaries mean 70 percent of income is needed for the average family.

Miami is number two and New York City number four.

The Florida city was once the most unaffordable city in the US, but housing prices are falling. The average list price dropped to $710,000, and the average family will spend $4,378 on a monthly mortgage.

In New York, a middle-income family would spend 76.63 percent on a home with an average list price of $850,000.

In the 25 most unaffordable housing markets across the country, homeowners spend at least 49 percent of their income on the cost of their own home.

Los Angeles is the least affordable city in America. Here, a typical family would have to spend all of its monthly income to pay the mortgage on a typical house

Detroit is one of the most affordable

Four of the five least affordable housing markets became even more expensive in May: Los Angeles, Irvine, New York City and Long Beach.

And housing costs became less affordable this month in all five of the more affordable housing markets: Toledo, OH, Detroit, MI, Fort Wayne, IN, Wichita, KS and Buffalo, NY.