Greater Los Angeles is the biggest town in a state, California, that has more billionaires than any other. We're home to Malibu, Beverly Hills and Bel Air. Real estate prices here are often record-breaking.

But the gap between the Real Housewives and the rest of us is huge, and maybe that's the reason L.A. barely ranked on the new “Ten Most Expensive US Cities to Live In” list:

We made number 10 on the Kiplinger's's ranking, which evaluated America's largest cities according to the price of housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, health care and other goods and services.

See also: Top 10 Reasons to Love Los Angeles and Never, Ever Leave

The data was drawn from the Council for Community and Economic Research's look at costs in 307 urban areas of the United States, according to Kiplinger's.

One caveat for L.A., however: While many rankings consider the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, often including the Inland Empire and Orange County, this list apparently did not. Kiplinger's:

… Because we wanted to pinpoint specific cities with the highest living costs, we also omitted pricey counties with multiple large population centers, such as Orange County, Calif., and Nassau County, N.Y.

Five of the 10 most expensive American towns were California cities. Still, feels like a low ranking for the nation's second-largest metropolis.

10. Los Angeles, CA

9. San Diego, CA

8. Oakland, CA

7. Boston, MA

6. Washington, DC

5. Stamford, CT

4. San Jose, CA

3. San Francisco, CA

2. Honolulu, HI

1. New York, NY

Even with costs 30 percent above what the rest of America sees and housing costs at double the national average, we get by with cheap stuff too. Kiplinger's:

… L.A. is surprisingly affordable on many fronts. Health care, groceries and utilities don't cost much more than is typical for the nation as a whole.

We're next to the nation's food source, the Central Valley, and our ports take in more cheap goods from China than almost anywhere else. And our supply of cheap Mexican service workers is second to none.

L.A. is a cheap wealthy person's dream then. So stop complaining.

See also: Top 10 Reasons to Love Los Angeles and Never, Ever Leave

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.