San Francisco’s Reign Over: No Longer the Priciest City for Renters in the Bay

In an unexpected turn of events, San Francisco, once famous for its sky-high rental costs, has been ousted as the Bay Area’s priciest rental place.

A recent Bay Area Metro Report by the apartment listings entity Zumper confirmed that three Santa Clara County cities have now surpassed San Francisco in average monthly rent prices.

Mountain View, Cupertino, and Santa Clara are now in the top spots. They now have the priciest average monthly rent. Below are the details with their average monthly rental costs:

• Mountain View – $3450
• Cupertino – $3,110
• Santa Clara – $3,050

Surprisingly, San Francisco is now in fourth place and ties with Menlo Park. According to The San Francisco Standard’s report, both cities are aligning at $3,000 monthly.

Here's where San Francisco's residential rents stack up to the rest of the country right now https://t.co/1AmNhW4OAR

— San Francisco Business Times (@SFBusinessTimes) May 24, 2023

The Most Affordable Rentals in The Bay Area

If you’re hunting for a cheaper option, Richmond, Vallejo, and Antioch has the lowest monthly rents:

• Vallejo – $1,550
• Antioch – $1,790
• Richmond – $1,820

Meanwhile, below the state’s median price, Livermore rental costs $2,090, while Hayward and Concord have average rents at $2,065.

You may also like: Rents in Canada increase as home prices drop

Anthemos Georgiades, Zumper CEO, was straightforward in his judgment of the data’s importance. He tweeted, “Bay Area is roaring back, SF is not.”

San Francisco is no longer the most expensive city for house & apartment rentals in the Bay Area, by some distance

It's now #4

via @zumper pic.twitter.com/UdpzvfZsJ5

— Anthemos Georgiades (@anthemos) June 1, 2023

A spokesperson for Zumper, Crystal Chen, said that the increase in Santa Clara County cities could be associated with the return-to-office regulations of the big tech companies.

Chen said, “These three cities house some of the biggest tech companies, including Apple, Google, and Intel, so many employees are returning to these areas to be close to the office, which is driving up demand and competition for rentals.”

Another contributing factor to the transforming rental costs is the start of the summer moving period. It is the season when rental demands typically surge as many rent contract ends.

Chen also explained, “Paired with the fact that we are getting into the hot summer moving season, all play a part in the spike in rents.”

On the contrary, San Francisco’s rents stayed significantly flat. As per Zumper data, it dropped both on a monthly and yearly basis.

San Francisco Migration and Its Impact

Recent US census data shows a noticeable departure of residents from San Francisco. The county and city of San Francisco have 831,703 residents.

The city lost an estimated 0.6% or 5,333 residents in 2022. In comparison, Santa Clara County, with 1,886,079 residents, lost 0.3% or 4,888 residents from 2022. The city of San Jose, with 959,256 residents, also lost 0.5% or 4,489 residents last year.

The impact of these migrations on the city’s rental market is still unknown. Still, the rental landscape in the Bay Area is clearly changing. San Francisco no longer holds the title as the most expensive rental city.

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