California: County Rent Growth

What rent growth tells you about California

This page tracks the year-over-year percentage change in HUD's Fair Market Rent for each county in California, comparing the FY 2025 and FY 2026 1-bedroom FMR schedules. FMR is HUD's estimate of the 40th percentile of gross rents (utilities included, except telephone) for each county or metro FMR area, so year-over-year change here reflects HUD's revised sampling of the American Community Survey rent distribution plus a CPI adjustment, not street-level asking rents. The CA state-average 1-bedroom FMR changed by +5.5% from FY 2025 to FY 2026, compared with a national average change of +4.6%, putting California0.9 percentage points above the US pace.

Inside the state, counties rarely move at the same speed. The biggest 1-bedroom FMR increase this year was in Sonoma County at +26.1% year-over-year. On the other end of the ranking, Monterey County saw the smallest change at -10.0%, which is unusual and typically reflects HUD either revising downward after a methodology update or capturing real softening in the sample. Because FMR serves as the anchor for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, local housing authorities set standards between 90% and 110% of FMR, rising counties effectively lift voucher affordability for recipients, while falling counties can tighten the pool of units that accept vouchers at the new standard.

Use this data alongside inflation and wage benchmarks to understand whether rent in California is accelerating, tracking, or falling behind the broader cost-of-living picture. A 1-bedroom FMR growing faster than local wages means more households will cross into the cost-burdened category (paying more than 30% of income for rent). A growth rate running below inflation can signal softening demand, new supply absorbing the market, or HUD's sample lagging true rents. Pair this page with California's rent burden rankings to see which fast-growing counties are also the most burdened, and with the cheapest- and most-expensive-counties rankings to see where growth is changing the overall state picture.