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Old 10-27-2017, 04:50 PM
 
Location: Jurupa Valley, CA, USA 92509
1,377 posts, read 2,112,881 times
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So... after doing some research on Wikipedia for California places by income, I think I may have just found THE absolute cheapest California town... ever!

It is...

The town of Delft Colony, in Tulare County.

According to Wikipedia, Delft Colony's median per capita income is only at around $2,685, while the median household income is only at around $8,456, with the median family income hovering around the same amount.

I am quite surprised that Delft Colony is even cheaper than the Salton Sea towns, the Death Valley towns, Trona, Needles, the Palo Verde Valley, the desert portion of Kern County, the Eastern Coachella Valley towns, Whitewater, Bonnie Bell, Cabazon, Desert Hot Springs, North Palm Springs, Thousand Palms, Sky Valley, Indio Hills, Desert Center/Chiriaco Summit, the Barstow area, the Morongo Basin, the entirity of Imperial County, most of the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada towns, the North Coast, and even the northernmost areas of California (though, maybe some of the very small areas of say, Modoc, Lassen, Nevada, Siskiyou, or Del Norte counties, may be even cheaper, or maybe not, who knows)!

So, what are your thoughts on Delft Colony? What can you inform me on this little town?

Also, when checking to see if one town is cheaper/more expensive than the other, do we look at the median per capita income, the median household income, or the median family income?

Any answers or insights are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Last edited by Brandon Graves; 10-27-2017 at 05:07 PM..
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:17 PM
 
Location: Arvada, CO
13,825 posts, read 29,834,328 times
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Migrant/seasonal workers and their kin.
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:22 PM
 
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Maybe the town is accessible only via a rope bridge, haha.

Last edited by AFtrEFkt; 10-27-2017 at 05:34 PM..
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:25 PM
 
Location: Arvada, CO
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To find where is the cheapest, I would look to sale prices of real estate. Delft Colony's range is from $71K to $260K. Not really all that different from the surrounding area.

Income IMO only tells you income. You can have high median income, but insignificant wealth. You can have a lot of high-income earners living near many middle and low income earners. You can have income segregation. Along with everything else in the book.

Per capita income is every head, including children. You'll find higher per capita incomes where there are less children, and more DINKs. You'll find higher median household income generally where there are more families, particularly dual income families with kids. Median family income only gives the income of families, which would not include income earners who do not have kids. It depends what you're looking for. Median wage for full-time workers is a good metric IMO as well.

You can have low median incomes and high real estate prices, and vice versa. You can have a balance, or you can have numbers that make no sense. Higher income does not equate higher real estate demand.
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:41 PM
 
Location: Jurupa Valley, CA, USA 92509
1,377 posts, read 2,112,881 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Aguilar View Post
To find where is the cheapest, I would look to sale prices of real estate. Delft Colony's range is from $71K to $260K. Not really all that different from the surrounding area.
So, you can go about doing this on Realtor, Zillow, and other real estate websites, correct?
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:42 PM
 
Location: Northern California
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It doesn't really matter how cheap homes are, if there are no jobs. Or no decent paying jobs.
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Old 10-27-2017, 05:48 PM
 
Location: Jurupa Valley, CA, USA 92509
1,377 posts, read 2,112,881 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evening sun View Post
It doesn't really matter how cheap homes are, if there are no jobs. Or no decent paying jobs.
Well, take Trona (in San Bernardino County) for instance. One of the cheapest towns in California.

The main, and largest, employer (or job site) of Trona is the Searles Valley Minerals mining plant, and it collects minerals from the dry Searles Lake bed. I heard that they pay pretty well, FWIW.

Also within the mining district (aside from Trona) are the small (or semi-ghost) towns of Red Mountain, Johannesburg, and Randsburg.

Last edited by Brandon Graves; 10-27-2017 at 05:56 PM..
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Old 10-27-2017, 06:05 PM
 
Location: Arvada, CO
13,825 posts, read 29,834,328 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Graves View Post
So, you can go about doing this on Realtor, Zillow, and other real estate websites, correct?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by evening sun View Post
It doesn't really matter how cheap homes are, if there are no jobs. Or no decent paying jobs.
That does have an effect, however, it's not something that would affect somebody with passive income, those fully retired, those who work at home/etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Graves View Post
Well, take Trona (in San Bernardino County) for instance. One of the cheapest towns in California.

The main, and largest, employer (or job site) of Trona is the Searles Valley Minerals mining plant, and it collects minerals from the dry Searles Lake bed. I heard that they pay pretty well, FWIW.

Also within the mining district (aside from Trona) are the small (or semi-ghost) towns of Red Mountain, Johannesburg, and Randsburg.
Yes, within Trona and outside of the plants, there is nothing beyond the schools, a sheriff station, a couple of stores/etc. Many Tronites do work in Ridgecrest.

Red Mountain has no services, IIRC there was one restaurant that kept opening/closing down. Johannesburg only has a gas station/mart/post office. Randsburg has one restaurant, I believe. Anybody else who works in those places would have to do so from home, in Ridgecrest, or at the proving grounds north of California City. Otherwise it's a ridiculous AND dangerous commute to elsewhere (US 395 is notorious for traffic deaths in that stretch, as is Garlock Rd).
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Old 10-27-2017, 06:17 PM
 
Location: Northern California
128,540 posts, read 11,884,268 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Aguilar View Post
Yes.



That does have an effect, however, it's not something that would affect somebody with passive income, those fully retired, those who work at home/etc.



Yes, within Trona and outside of the plants, there is nothing beyond the schools, a sheriff station, a couple of stores/etc. Many Tronites do work in Ridgecrest.

Red Mountain has no services, IIRC there was one restaurant that kept opening/closing down. Johannesburg only has a gas station/mart/post office. Randsburg has one restaurant, I believe. Anybody else who works in those places would have to do so from home, in Ridgecrest, or at the proving grounds north of California City. Otherwise it's a ridiculous AND dangerous commute to elsewhere (US 395 is notorious for traffic deaths in that stretch, as is Garlock Rd).
we are retired & I would never want to live somewhere so isolated that there is no live music, or live theater or a decent hospital. There has to be something more than cheap rent. In any case, to each, their own. If other people are happy there, than more power to them.
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Old 10-27-2017, 06:26 PM
 
Location: Jurupa Valley, CA, USA 92509
1,377 posts, read 2,112,881 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evening sun View Post
we are retired & I would never want to live somewhere so isolated that there is no live music, or live theater or a decent hospital. There has to be something more than cheap rent. In any case, to each, their own. If other people are happy there, than more power to them.
Very true.
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