The Encinitas city sign over Coast Highway 101 is shown decorated with holiday lights in this 2018 file image. (Photo by Ian McDonnell, iStock Getty Images)
Three North San Diego County communities are among WalletHub’s Best Small Cities in America for 2025, with Encinitas almost reaching the top 1%, according to survey results released Tuesday, Sept. 30.
WalletHub researchers compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 using 45 key indicators of livability, from housing costs and schools to the number of restaurants per capita.
“Given the large sample of cities ranked in this study, we grouped cities by percentile,” the report stated. “The 99th percentile represents the top 1 percent of small cities in America.”
WalletHub researchers found that North County communities Encinitas, San Marcos and Fallbrook, among other San Diego County communities south of the North Coast Current and OsideNews coverage area, made their overall criteria for Best Small Cities in America.
“One of the best perks of living in a city with a relatively small population is affordability,” the personal finance website stated in its survey release, comparing Economic Policy Institute data. “The cost of living for a two-parent, two-child family in Hanford, California, for instance, would be $8,013 per month, compared with more than double at $17,621 for the same family in San Francisco.”
Southern California, including San Diego County communities, can be more costly, however. Economic Policy Institute data for Carlsbad, which wasn’t on the Best Small Cities list but was the closest available to Encinitas for data purposes, showed the monthly cost of living at $12,642.
Other websites listed Encinitas’ monthly cost of living for a family of four between $6,000 and $8,000. Salary.com, for example, reported that the city’s monthly family cost of living was $8,168, which was 50% higher than the U.S. average and 19% higher than the California average.
When it comes to overall smaller-city living, Encinitas hit the 83rd percentile on WalletHub’s list, followed by San Marcos in the 62nd percentile and Fallbrook, while not an incorporated city, in the 17th percentile.
“Moving from a bustling metropolis to a small city could drastically cut down your cost of living. On top of that, the best small cities offer strong job markets, high-quality education, good health care, safe living conditions and plenty of local flair to help you achieve a high quality of life,” WalletHub analyst Chris Lupo said in the report’s release. “While small cities may lack some advantages of big cities, like robust public transportation systems, they make up for these shortcomings in other areas.”
The full report can be found at wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581.
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