This California county is most expensive in U.S. for renters, and it’s not SF
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A small surfing mecca has catapulted in rent prices over pricey San Francisco. According to a newly-released annual report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Santa Cruz County is now the most expensive area for renters in the United States.
The 2023 Out of Reach Report’s list calculated the hourly “housing wage” needed to rent a modest two-bedroom rental home in Santa Cruz. For Surf City, it’s $63.33. A “housing wage” is the wage needed to pay rent without spending more than 30% of a household’s income.
Data released in the report shows Santa Cruz is the most expensive area, in the most expensive state, in America.
Statewide in California, the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $2,197. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a household must earn $42.25 hourly, $7,323 monthly, or $87,877 annually.
Hourly wage necessary to afford a two-bedroom apartment
Santa Cruz – $63.33
San Francisco – $61.31
San Jose and Sunnyvale and Santa Clara – $56.56
Oakland and Fremont – $46.25
Napa – $45.92
Santa Rosa – $43.31
Vallejo – $37.75
Annual income necessary to afford a two-bedroom apartment
Santa Cruz – $131,720
San Francisco – $127,520
San Jose and Sunnyvale and Santa Clara – $117,640
Oakland and Fremont – $96,200
Napa – $95,520
Santa Rosa – $90,080
Vallejo and Fairfield – $78,520
Santa Cruz is known for its beaches, rollercoasters, and now extremely high housing prices. (KRON4 / Amy Larson)
The “housing wage” is based on Fair Market Rents, which are estimates of what a family moving today can expect to pay for a modest rental home, not what all renters are currently paying. Fair Market Rent is typically the 40th percentile of gross rents for standard rental units of recent movers.
The report’s researchers wrote, “Many low-wage workers and other low income renters pay a large portion of their income toward rent because they lack housing options that are more affordable. When low-income households spend more than half their income on housing, they have little if any money to spend on other necessities, such as food, childcare, transportation, and healthcare.”
The coalition’s 2022 report ranked San Francisco as No. 1 for highest rent prices, and Santa Cruz as No. 2.
According to researchers, households are considered “housing cost-burdened” if they spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Households are considered “severely housing cost-burdened” if they spend more than 50% of their income on housing costs. Across the U.S., 20.8 million renter households are housing cost-burdened, and 11.3 million are severely housing cost-burdened.
Source: KRON4
