Renting in the Bay Area got noticeably more expensive over the past year. Zillow's September market report, released Oct. 6, puts the typical rent in the San Francisco metro at $3,445 a month, up 11.8% from a year earlier. No other metro in Zillow's table of the country's 50 largest markets came close. The next-biggest jump on the list was San Jose's.
The national picture is much calmer. The typical U.S. rent was $1,932, up 2.7% over the year. That is the biggest annual gain nationally since April 2025, but it is less than a quarter of San Francisco's pace.
San Jose is pricier still
The San Jose metro remains the most expensive place to rent in the table, at a typical $3,812 a month, up 8.3% from a year earlier. San Francisco's rents also rose 1.2% in a single month, from August to September, while San Jose's rose 0.7%.
For comparison, the typical rent in the New York metro was $3,546, up 4.2%, and in Los Angeles it was $2,929, up 1.8%, according to the same table.
Rents are outrunning home values
Home prices are moving much more slowly. Zillow's index puts the typical San Francisco-area home value at $1,131,146, up 3.7% over the year, and the typical San Jose-area value at $1,535,288, down 0.2%. Nationally, home values are up just 1%.
Buying has not gotten easier, though. Zillow says mortgage rates ended September at 7.28%, the highest since November 2023 by Freddie Mac's count, pushing the monthly payment on a typical U.S. home up 6.7% from a year ago. Newly pending home sales fell 8.5% nationally. In the report, Zillow chief economist Mischa Fisher said the continued strength in the rental market was more surprising than the slowdown in sales.
What it means for renters
A common rule of thumb says rent should take no more than 30% of gross income. By that math, a $3,445 rent calls for a household income of roughly $137,800 a year. Zillow also reports that 39.6% of rental listings nationwide offered some kind of concession in September, such as a free month, so renters shopping now may have some room to negotiate on the advertised price.
Zillow says its October report is expected Nov. 5.