How much do households in the San Francisco, CA area spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About 30.2% of income was spent on rent and utilities in 2018–2022 for a typical household in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area. This was measured by comparing median gross rent, which includes rent and utilities, and median monthly income for renting households. A median is a measure of a typical value in a set of numbers.
Showing data for
In 2018–2022, median rent was
30.2%
of median income
In 2018–2022,
$2.34K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. San Francisco, CA area median rent was about $2.34K per month in 2018–2022. Typical monthly income among renting households was about $7.74K per month during that same period.
A typical household spent about $2.34K on rent in the San Francisco, CA area.
Median rent and median renter household income, 2018–2022
Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates greater affordability.
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
San Francisco, CA area's rent-to-income ratio ranked 20 out of 26 California metros.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
Compared to other metro areas in California, San Francisco, CA area had the second highest median rent and the second highest median renter-household income. Out of the twenty-six metros in the state, San Francisco, CA area rent-to-income ratio ranked seventh lowest.
Renter income and rent, California metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Bakersfield, CA area | $3,474 |
| 2. | Chico, CA area | $3,557 |
| 3. | El Centro, CA area | $2,917 |
| 4. | Fresno, CA area | $3,661 |
| 5. | Hanford, CA area | $4,265 |
| 6. | Los Angeles, CA area | $5,387 |
| 7. | Madera, CA area | $3,803 |
| 8. | Merced, CA area | $4,138 |
| 9. | Modesto, CA area | $4,458 |
| 10. | Napa, CA area | $6,354 |
