How do local rents compare to other areas?

Lily Leung

Aug. 2, 2011

Rents have risen in San Diego County, affecting affordability among certain occupations, says on Washington, D.C. based policy group. Pictured is Carmelina Castillo and her boyfriend, Javier Fernandez, who rent at Vantage Pointe apartments. — K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune staff

San Diego County is now the 13th most expensive rental market in the U.S. out of more than 200 metro areas, says a housing policy group based in Washington D.C.
The local fair-market rent was $1,406 in the first quarter of 2011, up 6.2 percent, or $82, from fiscal 2010. The numbers were recently reported by the National Housing Conference and Center for Housing Policy, who used figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD.
San Diego previously ranked 18th in fair-market rents in fiscal 2010.
The housing group included those numbers as part of a larger report that said that fewer people who were getting hired in some of the "in demand" job markets faced a hard time buying or renting in areas such as San Diego County, the report said.
Those five professions were: accountant, office clerk, security guard, groundskeeper and janitor.

Fair market rents in the U.S.

Rank '11	Metro area	2 BR (2011)	Rank '10	2 BR (2010)
1	San Francisco	$1,833	1	$1,760
2	Santa Cruz, Calif.	$1,730	3	$1,656
3	Honolulu	$1,702	2	$1,704
3	San Jose	$1,702	9	$1,438
5	Suffolk-Nassau	$1,661	5	$1,592
6	Santa Ana, Calif.	$1,584	4	$1,594
7	Oxnard, Calif.	$1,527	8	$1,479
8	Los Angeles	$1,465	10	$1,420
9	Bethesda, Md.	$1,461	6	$1,494
9	Washington, D.C.	$1,461	6	$1,494
11	Edison, N.J.	$1,449	11	$1,409
12	Napa	$1,410	17	$1,350
13	San Diego	$1,406	18	$1,324
14	New York, N.Y.	$1,403	13	$1,359
15	Oakland, Calif.	$1,393	12	$1,377

Source: HUD 

Source: SignOnSanDiego