Cost to Own
United States › Rankings › California Counties ranked 58 Data vintage ACS 2023 5-Year

Ranked from ACS 2023 5-Year

Highest Rents in California

Median gross rent by county, which includes rent plus the utilities the tenant pays. Comparing it against the monthly cost to own is the honest version of the rent-versus-buy question.

Where does yours land? Every county in America is somewhere on this scale, including the one you live in.

California ranked

#County Median rentMonthly to ownMedian home
1 San Mateo County $2,893$10,456$1,494,500
2 Santa Clara County $2,814$9,799$1,382,800
3 Marin County $2,584$9,864$1,390,000
4 San Francisco County $2,419$9,756$1,380,500
5 Orange County $2,352$6,537$915,500
6 Contra Costa County $2,322$6,069$830,800
7 Alameda County $2,318$7,599$1,057,400
8 Ventura County $2,248$5,542$768,400
9 Santa Cruz County $2,172$7,185$1,015,200
10 San Diego County $2,154$5,707$791,600
11 Napa County $2,141$6,031$838,800
12 Sonoma County $2,093$5,631$779,000
13 Solano County $2,088$4,335$589,600
14 Santa Barbara County $2,050$5,298$735,700
15 Monterey County $1,995$5,210$723,100
16 Placer County $1,991$4,872$658,800
17 San Benito County $1,922$5,498$751,500
18 San Luis Obispo County $1,899$5,610$777,200
19 Los Angeles County $1,893$5,646$783,300
20 Riverside County $1,814$3,815$510,300
21 Yolo County $1,757$4,374$593,800
22 San Bernardino County $1,706$3,521$475,000
23 Sacramento County $1,702$3,707$498,900
24 Nevada County $1,635$4,423$602,800
25 San Joaquin County $1,633$3,681$494,500
26 El Dorado County $1,626$4,665$640,500
27 Calaveras County $1,615$3,295$441,800
28 Mono County $1,593$3,819$514,300
29 Stanislaus County $1,528$3,188$426,600
30 Amador County $1,380$3,157$422,800
31 Butte County $1,369$3,058$408,700
32 Sutter County $1,364$3,023$399,400
33 Mendocino County $1,325$3,593$486,000
34 Madera County $1,307$2,778$367,700
35 Fresno County $1,300$2,757$362,600
36 Lake County $1,292$2,433$316,800
37 Merced County $1,284$2,775$368,400
38 Mariposa County $1,268$2,705$358,000
39 Shasta County $1,267$2,637$347,200
40 Humboldt County $1,249$3,114$418,800
41 Tuolumne County $1,247$3,035$406,200
42 Kings County $1,228$2,363$305,700
43 Kern County $1,220$2,438$310,600
44 Yuba County $1,209$2,880$380,000
45 Tulare County $1,206$2,338$303,000
46 Del Norte County $1,182$2,415$319,600
47 Sierra County $1,181$2,567$334,100
48 Tehama County $1,159$2,400$315,600
49 Inyo County $1,140$2,577$338,400
50 Colusa County $1,139$2,817$375,100
51 Glenn County $1,103$2,561$338,400
52 Lassen County $1,043$2,035$259,500
53 Siskiyou County $1,043$2,194$284,500
54 Plumas County $1,034$2,505$327,400
55 Imperial County $1,012$2,201$279,500
56 Trinity County $922$2,466$329,000
57 Modoc County $818$1,699$212,000
58 Alpine County —$3,452$466,100

Every figure is modelled on the county's own median home with 20% down at 7.03%. Property tax and electricity are county and state specific; homeowners insurance uses the NAIC average premium for that state, which ranges from 0.16% of home value in Hawaii to 1.16% in Oklahoma. Maintenance and water are national estimates. Full methodology.

Nationwide

Highest Rents across all 3,133 US counties · Every county in California

Other rankings

All 31 rankings