California Median Rental Costs by Town

Generally, a greater population provides for a larger statistical sample size, which results in more accurate rent estimates and a lower margin of error.

For instance, Fresno, one the more populated cities in California, has a margin of error of $13 on a estimated rental cost of $1,115. Whereas Woodside, with a population of approximately 5,300, has an estimated average rental cost of $2,842 with a margin of error of $984.

The Bay Area near San Francisco has some of the highest rental rates in the state.

By sorting the table below by the Margin of Error (MOE) column, it's evident the smaller error margins are usually found for the largest cities in California, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento.

Conversely, the error margins for areas with fewer residents tend to be higher.

This data is intended solely for comparison of rental costs among municipalities in California. Data is based upon The U.S. Census Bureau's 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.