Newbie owners go smallMedian income: $86,100
Affordability score: 32.9
When Disneyland was built in the mid-1950s, Orange County was open territory, filled with citrus groves and vegetable farms. Land was cheap and houses were very affordable.
These days, the Santa Ana metro area is very different. Orange now boasts the second largest county population in the nation, with more than 3 million residents, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates.
That trails only Los Angeles County among the nation's counties. Tract houses stretch for miles and there are many expensive neighborhoods filled with big homes, lush grounds and beautiful swimming pools.
Employment has suffered during the housing bust: Many area residents worked in the mortgage and residential development industries and lots of those jobs have disappeared. The unemployment rate stood at 11.6% in the area, including Los Angeles.
Home prices have dropped substantially from the high they hit back in mid-2006, when the median Santa Ana home sold for $630,000. But prices rose to $425,000 during the three months ended June 30 from $410,000 earlier, a nice comeback for sellers but a blow to affordability for buyers.
NEXT: Fourth place: Los Angeles
