How much do households in California spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About $1.87K per month, or 34.5% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
34.5%
of median income
In 2022,
$1.87K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. 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 it’s more affordable.
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.
California's rent-to-income ratio was higher than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income
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The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In California, the rent-to-income ratio reached 36.6% that year. Most recently, in 2022, California’s rent-to-income ratio was 34.5%, 2.8 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin area at 21.7% (lowest). In California, the highest and lowest were Oxnard, CA area at 36.4% and Hanford, CA area at 28.2%.
During that period, San Jose, CA had the highest median rent at $2.7K per month and the highest median monthly income at $9.5K out of twenty-six California metro areas. Its rent-to-income ratio was the twenty-fifth highest in the state.
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 |
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
United States Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program and 2 others
