Average Rent in California (2026) — HUD Fair Market Rents
The average two-bedroom rent in California is $2,674 per month by HUD's FY 2026 Fair Market Rent data (population-weighted); two-bedroom FMRs range from $1,108 to $4,214 across 51 rent areas.
Fair Market Rent is HUD's annual estimate of what a modest rental costs in each local market — the 40th percentile of gross rents (rent plus tenant-paid utilities) for recent movers, published for studio through four-bedroom units and used to set Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher payment standards. FMRs are a federal benchmark, not an asking-rent average: use them to sanity-check your pricing (statewide, California's typical two-bedroom FMR moved +5.7% versus FY 2025).
All 51 California FMR areas
Sorted by two-bedroom rent, highest first. 30 metro areas; the rest are non-metro county areas. "vs FY 2025" is the two-bedroom change from last year's FMR for the same area.
| Area | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR | 2 BR vs FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA MSA Metro | $3,179 | $3,298 | $4,214 | $5,377 | $5,659 | -0.2% |
San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 3 countiesMarin County · San Francisco County · San Mateo County | $2,485 | $2,977 | $3,604 | $4,604 | $4,772 | +8.6% |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $2,621 | $2,982 | $3,483 | $4,602 | $5,010 | +1.1% |
| Napa, CA MSA Metro | $2,286 | $2,526 | $3,315 | $4,222 | $4,942 | +18.7% |
| Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $2,682 | $2,746 | $3,236 | $4,393 | $5,246 | +11.5% |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA MSA Metro | $2,459 | $2,746 | $3,124 | $4,075 | $4,647 | +3.2% |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA MSA Metro | $2,288 | $2,459 | $3,001 | $3,998 | $4,845 | +4.2% |
Oakland-Fremont, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 2 countiesAlameda County · Contra Costa County | $2,142 | $2,385 | $2,912 | $3,724 | $4,413 | +8.6% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $2,079 | $2,328 | $2,903 | $3,681 | $4,098 | +10.6% |
| San Benito County, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $2,205 | $2,212 | $2,902 | $3,944 | $4,190 | +10.6% |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA MSA Metro | $1,949 | $2,155 | $2,827 | $3,887 | $4,147 | +3.2% |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA Metro | $1,998 | $2,250 | $2,693 | $3,652 | $4,240 | +4.8% |
| Salinas, CA MSA Metro | $2,173 | $2,232 | $2,684 | $3,623 | $3,945 | -10.0% |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA MSA Metro | $1,842 | $2,036 | $2,671 | $3,584 | $4,105 | +9.7% |
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 3 countiesEl Dorado County · Placer County · Sacramento County | $1,748 | $1,832 | $2,255 | $3,002 | $3,460 | +2.2% |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA Metro 2 countiesRiverside County · San Bernardino County | $1,692 | $1,777 | $2,201 | $2,912 | $3,514 | -4.6% |
| Vallejo, CA MSA Metro | $1,567 | $1,705 | $2,178 | $2,911 | $3,297 | -10.0% |
| Yolo, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $1,604 | $1,615 | $2,104 | $2,917 | $3,178 | -0.6% |
| Nevada County, CA Non-metro | $1,373 | $1,382 | $1,813 | $2,521 | $3,041 | +1.6% |
| Modesto, CA MSA Metro | $1,255 | $1,356 | $1,758 | $2,442 | $2,823 | +12.3% |
| Stockton-Lodi, CA MSA Metro | $1,288 | $1,395 | $1,742 | $2,423 | $2,922 | +0.3% |
| Mendocino County, CA Non-metro | $1,269 | $1,306 | $1,713 | $2,382 | $2,789 | +7.0% |
| Amador County, CA Non-metro | $1,387 | $1,396 | $1,698 | $2,220 | $2,714 | +13.7% |
| Mono County, CA Non-metro | $1,171 | $1,528 | $1,675 | $2,330 | $2,769 | +12.2% |
| Fresno, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $1,347 | $1,355 | $1,664 | $2,314 | $2,660 | +10.6% |
| Chico, CA MSA Metro | $1,155 | $1,270 | $1,625 | $2,260 | $2,726 | +10.8% |
| Redding, CA MSA Metro | $1,172 | $1,212 | $1,590 | $2,211 | $2,667 | -1.4% |
| Tuolumne County, CA Non-metro | $1,096 | $1,257 | $1,589 | $2,078 | $2,666 | +10.4% |
| Humboldt County, CA Non-metro | $1,112 | $1,186 | $1,550 | $2,156 | $2,600 | +4.9% |
Yuba City, CA MSA Metro 2 countiesSutter County · Yuba County | $1,166 | $1,272 | $1,550 | $2,156 | $2,600 | +1.8% |
| Lake County, CA Non-metro | $1,173 | $1,181 | $1,549 | $2,154 | $2,599 | +11.4% |
| Calaveras County, CA Non-metro | $1,078 | $1,175 | $1,542 | $2,145 | $2,316 | +8.2% |
| Alpine County, CA Non-metro | $1,068 | $1,165 | $1,529 | $2,126 | $2,527 | +5.8% |
| Sierra County, CA Non-metro | $1,068 | $1,165 | $1,529 | $2,126 | $2,527 | +5.8% |
| Inyo County, CA Non-metro | $1,058 | $1,381 | $1,514 | $1,940 | $2,540 | +6.2% |
| Merced, CA MSA Metro | $1,116 | $1,213 | $1,503 | $2,067 | $2,503 | -0.4% |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA MSA Metro | $1,132 | $1,140 | $1,483 | $2,062 | $2,488 | +7.5% |
| Visalia, CA MSA Metro | $1,116 | $1,123 | $1,474 | $2,028 | $2,393 | +3.1% |
| Hanford-Corcoran, CA MSA Metro | $1,150 | $1,157 | $1,469 | $2,043 | $2,451 | +1.7% |
| Mariposa County, CA Non-metro | $1,016 | $1,148 | $1,454 | $2,022 | $2,439 | +8.7% |
| Plumas County, CA Non-metro | $973 | $1,075 | $1,411 | $1,962 | $1,995 | +7.1% |
| Madera County, CA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro | $1,055 | $1,062 | $1,376 | $1,914 | $2,275 | — |
| Del Norte County, CA Non-metro | $957 | $1,222 | $1,370 | $1,905 | $2,277 | +9.3% |
| El Centro, CA MSA Metro | $939 | $1,038 | $1,362 | $1,845 | $2,285 | -0.7% |
| Glenn County, CA Non-metro | $939 | $1,038 | $1,362 | $1,807 | $2,179 | +11.0% |
| Tehama County, CA Non-metro | $952 | $1,038 | $1,362 | $1,865 | $2,285 | +0.8% |
| Colusa County, CA Non-metro | $989 | $995 | $1,306 | $1,723 | $1,729 | +8.1% |
| Lassen County, CA Non-metro | $882 | $1,016 | $1,279 | $1,779 | $2,146 | +7.1% |
| Siskiyou County, CA Non-metro | $962 | $969 | $1,249 | $1,737 | $1,915 | +4.0% |
| Trinity County, CA Non-metro | $829 | $916 | $1,202 | $1,636 | $1,655 | +7.3% |
| Modoc County, CA Non-metro | $774 | $883 | $1,108 | $1,434 | $1,831 | +5.1% |
Download this table as CSV — every area, studio through 4-bedroom, with county lists and year-over-year change.
About this data
Source: HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rents, county-level file (revised), published at huduser.gov — a U.S. government work in the public domain, republished here unmodified. The typical-rent figure is the population-weighted average across the areas above (county populations from HUD's file); year-over-year comparisons match each area with last year's file by HUD area code. Effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026; last regenerated from HUD's file on 2026-07-20. FMRs cap what a housing authority can pay under the voucher program; your local Public Housing Authority's payment standard may be set between 90% and 110% of FMR. Full method notes: how the rent figures are computed.
Related on Landlord Atlas
- California landlord-tenant laws — security deposits, rent increase notice, late fees, and entry rules, cited to statute.
- Rental profitability calculator — test a California property's cash flow against its county's FMR.
- Rent increase notice creator — moving rent toward market? Generate a state-aware notice.