The median monthly apartment rental rate for a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco Bay Area was the highest in Mountain View as of May 2023, at nearly ***** U.S. dollars. The median monthly rent for a one bedroom apartment in Vallejo, on the other hand, was aproximately ***** U.S. dollars per month.

The monthly rent for two-bedroom apartments in San Francisco and Bay Area has fluctuated since 2015. In 2023, the median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco was 3,795 U.S. dollars, down from 3,970 U.S. dollars in 2021.

The average rent for warehouses and distribution centers in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, has increased year-on-years since 2017. In the first quarter of 2024, the average rent amounted to 16.52 U.S. dollars per square foot. That was significantly higher than the average warehouse rent in the United States.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR List Rents (EC9)

FULL MEASURE NAME List Rents

LAST UPDATED October 2016

DESCRIPTION List rent refers to the advertised rents for available rental housing and serves as a measure of housing costs for new households moving into a neighborhood, city, county or region.

DATA SOURCE real Answers (1994 – 2015) no link

Zillow Metro Median Listing Price All Homes (2010-2016) http://www.zillow.com/research/data/

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) List rents data reflects median rent prices advertised for available apartments rather than median rent payments; more information is available in the indicator definition above. Regional and local geographies rely on data collected by real Answers, a research organization and database publisher specializing in the multifamily housing market. real Answers focuses on collecting longitudinal data for individual rental properties through quarterly surveys. For the Bay Area, their database is comprised of properties with 40 to 3,000+ housing units. Median list prices most likely have an upward bias due to the exclusion of smaller properties. The bias may be most extreme in geographies where large rental properties represent a small portion of the overall rental market. A map of the individual properties surveyed is included in the Local Focus section.

Individual properties surveyed provided lower- and upper-bound ranges for the various types of housing available (studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc.). Median lower- and upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the regional and county geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the average of the median lower- and upper-bound prices for the region and counties. Median upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the city geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the median upper-bound price for cities. For simplicity, only the mean list rent is displayed for the individual properties. The metro areas geography rely upon Zillow data, which is the median price for rentals listed through www.zillow.com during the month. Like the real Answers data, Zillow's median list prices most likely have an upward bias since small properties are underrepresented in Zillow's listings. The metro area data for the Bay Area cannot be compared to the regional Bay Area data. Due to afore mentioned data limitations, this data is suitable for analyzing the change in list rents over time but not necessarily comparisons of absolute list rents. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Due to the limited number of rental properties surveyed, city-level data is unavailable for Atherton, Belvedere, Brisbane, Calistoga, Clayton, Cloverdale, Cotati, Fairfax, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Moranga, Oakley, Orinda, Portola Valley, Rio Vista, Ross, San Anselmo, San Carlos, Saratoga, Sebastopol, Windsor, Woodside, and Yountville.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rents have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself. Percent change in inflation-adjusted median is calculated with respect to the median price from the fourth quarter or December of the base year.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Rent Payments (EC8)

FULL MEASURE NAME
Median rent payment

LAST UPDATED
January 2023

DESCRIPTION
Rent payments refer to the cost of leasing an apartment or home and serves as a measure of housing costs for individuals who do not own a home. The data reflect the median monthly rent paid by Bay Area households across apartments and homes of various sizes and various levels of quality. This differs from advertised rents for available apartments, which usually are higher. Note that rent can be presented using nominal or real (inflation-adjusted) dollar values; data are presented inflation-adjusted to reflect changes in household purchasing power over time.

DATA SOURCE
U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census - https://nhgis.org
Count 2 (1970)
Form STF1 (1980-1990)
Form SF3a (2000)

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey - https://data.census.gov/
Form B25058 (2005-2021; median contract rent)

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index - https://www.bls.gov/data/
1970-2021

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
Rent data reflects median rent payments rather than list rents (refer to measure definition above). American Community Survey 1-year data is used for larger geographies – Bay counties and most metropolitan area counties – while smaller geographies rely upon 5-year rolling average data due to their smaller sample sizes. Note that 2020 data uses the 5-year estimates because the ACS did not collect 1-year data for 2020.

1970 Census data for median rent payments has been imputed from quintiles using methodology from California Department of Finance as the source data only provided the mean, rather than the median, monthly rent. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rent payments have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself.

The median rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments in San Francisco, CA, amounted to about ***** U.S. dollars at the end of 2023. Rents decreased drastically after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic - by over ** percent between December 2019 and December 2020. This trend reversed in 2021, and as of December 2021, the annual rental growth stood at ** percent. Among the different states in the U.S., California ranks as the second most expensive rental market in 2023.

The average annual rent for manufacturing space in the San Francisco Bay Area soared between 2020 and 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, the rental cost amounted to ***** U.S. dollars per square foot. That was higher than the average rent for manufacturing space in the United States.

The average monthly asking rent for shopping centers in San Francisco fluctuated between 2020 and 2024. Rents fell to the lowest value in the third quarter of 2021, at ***** U.S. dollars per square foot. By the first quarter of 2024, the average rent had reached ***** U.S. dollars per square foot. San Francisco is one of the markets with the highest average rent for shopping centers in the U.S.

In 2022, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Santa Clara were the most expensive districts for housing in the San Francisco Bay Area. In San Francisco, the average square footage price of single-family homes exceeded 1,000 U.S. dollars per square foot. Housing in Solano, on the other hand, was most affordable, with the average square footage price for single family homes at *** U.S. dollars.

How expensive is buying a home in San Francisco? Few metros in the U.S. are more expensive than San Francisco, CA. In 2022, the median sales price of existing single-family homes in San Francisco was about *** million U.S. dollars, making it the second priciest market in the U.S. House prices in the Golden City, were not always so high: in 2014, a two-bedroom house in the Bay Area would sell for less than ******* U.S. dollars but since then, the median price has more than doubled.

How much does renting an apartment cost? Despite rents falling in 2020, renting in San Francisco is still far from cheap. Renting a two-bedroom apartment cost close to ***** U.S. dollars in 2021. California is one of the least affordable states for renters. In fact, to afford to rent such an apartment, a household needs approximately ***** full time jobs at minimum wage or *** full time jobs at mean wage.

The average rent per square foot in the largest research and development (R&D) and life science real estate markets in the United States varied greatly in the first half of 2023. New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco Bay Area were the most expensive markets to rent life science real estate in the first half of 2023. On average, a square foot of life science real estate cost about ***** U.S. dollars to buy in the same period.

San Francisco's office rental market showcases significant variation across its submarkets, with Mission Bay commanding the highest rates at *** U.S. dollars per square foot in the third quarter of 2024. This premium location demanded nearly double the city's average rate, highlighting the stark differences in desirability and demand within the city's commercial real estate landscape. Economic powerhouse The San Francisco Bay Area's economic prowess is evident in its impressive economic growth over the past 20 years. The city's strength is fueled by the presence of major technology companies and a thriving startup ecosystem. The region's economic significance extends beyond local boundaries, contributing substantially to California's position as the state with the highest GDP in the country. This economic vitality helps explain the sustained demand for office space across various San Francisco submarkets. Offices: global context and market trends In a global context, San Francisco's office rental rates are relatively high but not the most expensive worldwide. In 2024, London, Hong Kong, and New York emerged as the top three most expensive office rental markets globally. Over the past five years, San Francisco has experienced a decline in office rents. This trend aligns with broader shifts in the office real estate sector, influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of hybrid work. Despite these challenges, certain San Francisco submarkets like Mission Bay and The Presidio continue to command premium rates, reflecting their enduring appeal to commercial tenants.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR
Home Prices (EC7)

FULL MEASURE NAME
Home Prices

LAST UPDATED
December 2022

DESCRIPTION
Home prices refer to the cost of purchasing one’s own house or condominium. While a significant share of residents may choose to rent, home prices represent a primary driver of housing affordability in a given region, county or city.

DATA SOURCE
Zillow: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) - http://www.zillow.com/research/data/
2000-2021

California Department of Finance: E-4 Historical Population Estimates for Cities, Counties, and the State - https://dof.ca.gov/forecasting/demographics/estimates/
2000-2021

US Census Population and Housing Unit Estimates - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html
2000-2021

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index - http://data.bls.gov
2000-2021

US Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) - https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/zctas.html
2020 Census Blocks

CONTACT INFORMATION
vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator)
Housing price estimates at the regional-, county-, city- and zip code-level come from analysis of individual home sales by Zillow based upon transaction records. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) is a smoothed, seasonally adjusted measure of the typical home value and market changes across a given region and housing type. It reflects the typical value for homes in the 35th to 65th percentile range. ZHVI is computed from public record transaction data as reported by counties. All standard real estate transactions are included in this metric, including REO sales and auctions. Zillow makes a substantial effort to remove transactions not typically considered a standard sale. Examples of these include bank takeovers of foreclosed properties, title transfers after a death or divorce and non arms-length transactions. Zillow defines all homes as single-family residential, condominium and co-operative homes with a county record. Single-family residences are detached, which means the home is an individual structure with its own lot. Condominiums are units that can be owned in a multi-unit complex, such as an apartment building. Co-operative homes are slightly different from condominiums in that the homeowners own shares in the corporation that owns the building, not the actual units themselves.

For metropolitan area comparison values, the Bay Area metro area’s median home sale price is the population-weighted average of the nine counties’ median home prices. Data is adjusted for inflation using Bureau of Labor Statistics metropolitan statistical area (MSA)-specific series. Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how home prices have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of the CPI itself.

In 2007, a cash-strapped Brian Chesky came up with a shrewd way to pay his $1,200 San Francisco apartment rent. He would offer “Air bed and breakfast”, which consisted of three airbeds,...

As of the second quarter of 2019, the average monthly rent in Shenzhen's Houhai business center was ** Hong Kong dollars per square foot gross floor space. As an essential city in the China's Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen is home of many of China's high-tech companies, attracting lots of start-ups there.

In 2024, New York, NY, was the most expensive rental market for one-bedroom apartments in the United States. The median monthly rental rate of an apartment in New York was ***** U.S. dollars, while in San Francisco, CA which ranked second highest, renters paid on average ***** U.S. dollars.

The average monthly asking rent for shopping center space in Inland Empire, California, increased between 2020 and 2024. Rents peaked at ***** U.S. dollars per square meter in the first quarter of 2024. Hawaii, San Francisco, and San Jose were the markets with the highest average shopping center rent in the U.S.

The average monthly asking rent for shopping center space in Orange County, California, increased between 2020 and 2024. Rents peaked at ***** U.S. dollars per square meter in the fourth quarter of 2023, followed by a slight decline in the first quarter of 2024. Hawaii, San Francisco, and San Jose were the markets with the highest average shopping center rent in the U.S.

Cities in the United States dominate the list of cities with the highest rents worldwide. New York was ranked as the most expensive city to rent in, ahead of San Francisco, with an index score of ***. Boston followed in third.

In 2019, the most expensive zip code in California was *****, which is located in Los Angeles, and renters paid on average ***** U.S. dollars per month for apartments there. Los Angeles and San Francisco were home to several of the most expensive zip codes in the state.

In 2024, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California, households needed an hourly wage of almost ** U.S. dollars to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment. San Francisco had one of the least affordable two-bedroom apartments, as a household would have to earn at least **** U.S. dollars hourly to afford rent . These figures are considerably higher than the average minimum wage, which is in place in many states. There was no state in which a minimum wage worker could afford rent for the average two-bedroom apartment, if they only worked ** hours a week.