California rent guide

The Cheapest 1-Bedroom Apartments in California (July 2026)

Data as of Jun 9, 2026 · 2,114 one-bedrooms tracked statewide

The one-bedroom is the default California rental, what you go for once you’re done with roommates but not ready to pay for space you won’t use. We track 2,114 of them across the state, and the cheapest start at $852 a month. The statewide median sits at $2,203. The real story, though, is geography: a one-bed that rents around $1,250 in Chico would run about $4,061 in San Francisco, roughly $33,732 more over a year for the same floor plan.

Cheapest 1-bedroom cities, ranked

Ranked by the cheapest one-bed currently listed in each city. The median column matters just as much: it tells you what’s normal there once that single bargain is gone.

#	City	From	Median 1-bed	Listed
1	Chico	$875	$1,250	11
2	Fresno	$899	$1,515	41
3	Pasadena	$981	$2,458	12
4	Banning	$995	$1,650	3
5	Sacramento	$1,000	$1,627	57
6	Modesto	$1,067	$1,550	15
7	Merced	$1,075	$1,300	5
8	Bakersfield	$1,095	$1,600	15
9	Bellflower	$1,100	$1,940	11
10	Indio	$1,115	$1,675	3
11	Palmdale	$1,159	$1,473	8
12	Barstow	$1,195	$1,305	3
13	Stockton	$1,199	$1,403	16
14	Ontario	$1,200	$2,125	16
15	Torrance	$1,200	$2,150	13
16	Citrus Heights	$1,250	$1,619	10
17	San Diego	$1,275	$2,426	103
18	Woodland	$1,295	$1,523	6
19	Carmichael	$1,295	$1,395	5
20	Vallejo	$1,300	$1,819	11
21	Yuba City	$1,300	$1,300	3
22	Palm Springs	$1,320	$1,750	9
23	Rocklin	$1,323	$1,922	12
24	Rancho Cordova	$1,335	$1,555	9
25	Los Angeles	$1,345	$2,435	106
26	Lancaster	$1,370	$1,625	12
27	Clovis	$1,387	$1,550	9
28	Roseville	$1,391	$1,990	15
29	Corona	$1,400	$2,123	12
30	Auburn	$1,400	$1,691	4
31	Turlock	$1,430	$1,593	4
32	Victorville	$1,435	$1,632	4
33	Oxnard	$1,437	$2,404	12
34	Redondo Beach	$1,449	$2,535	6
35	Downey	$1,450	$1,800	10
36	San Bernardino	$1,450	$1,663	9
37	Manteca	$1,450	$1,849	9
38	Hanford	$1,458	$1,675	4
39	Folsom	$1,479	$1,995	15
40	Fair Oaks	$1,480	$1,575	7
41	Santa Ana	$1,500	$2,313	26
42	Sunnyvale	$1,500	$2,856	27
43	Moreno Valley	$1,500	$1,938	14
44	Hemet	$1,500	$1,575	5
45	Colton	$1,500	$1,787	6
46	Antioch	$1,510	$1,916	4
47	Davis	$1,525	$1,982	11
48	Riverside	$1,525	$2,051	28
49	Pomona	$1,545	$1,945	6
50	Burbank	$1,550	$2,298	12
51	Long Beach	$1,560	$2,547	23
52	El Cajon	$1,569	$1,880	23
53	Fairfield	$1,590	$1,901	11
54	Stanton	$1,600	$2,000	3
55	Glendale	$1,600	$2,204	18
56	Visalia	$1,619	$1,699	3
57	Palm Desert	$1,625	$2,170	5
58	Concord	$1,630	$1,943	13
59	National City	$1,650	$1,846	6
60	Oakland	$1,650	$2,480	26
61	Highland	$1,650	$1,813	4
62	Lompoc	$1,650	$1,834	4
63	Martinez	$1,667	$2,088	9
64	Encinitas	$1,675	$2,923	6
65	Rialto	$1,679	$1,863	4
66	Fremont	$1,687	$2,432	24
67	Buena Park	$1,695	$1,760	8
68	Covina	$1,695	$1,845	7
69	Santa Rosa	$1,699	$1,999	19
70	Livermore	$1,699	$2,415	10
71	Garden Grove	$1,700	$2,073	9
72	Rohnert Park	$1,700	$1,995	13
73	Upland	$1,700	$2,108	10
74	Vacaville	$1,705	$2,194	14
75	Pleasant Hill	$1,712	$2,272	5
76	Gardena	$1,745	$1,800	3
77	Escondido	$1,749	$2,095	21
78	Azusa	$1,750	$1,981	10
79	Hawthorne	$1,750	$1,875	9
80	Fontana	$1,750	$2,446	7
81	Salinas	$1,753	$2,199	9
82	Alameda	$1,755	$1,995	5
83	San Leandro	$1,764	$2,150	10
84	Hayward	$1,769	$2,082	20
85	Elk Grove	$1,774	$1,999	7
86	Inglewood	$1,775	$1,991	8
87	Anaheim	$1,795	$2,000	45
88	Fullerton	$1,799	$2,050	11
89	Redlands	$1,800	$2,029	14
90	Gilroy	$1,806	$2,223	4
91	San Ramon	$1,816	$2,305	5
92	Santa Maria	$1,820	$1,903	7
93	Pittsburg	$1,822	$2,030	9
94	Suisun City	$1,845	$1,916	3
95	Temecula	$1,845	$2,121	6
96	Cypress	$1,850	$2,440	7
97	Murrieta	$1,864	$2,180	10
98	Tracy	$1,870	$2,150	5
99	Norwalk	$1,875	$2,030	9
100	El Monte	$1,880	$1,950	3
101	Chula Vista	$1,888	$2,346	28
102	Napa	$1,888	$2,175	7
103	La Habra	$1,895	$2,247	6
104	La Mesa	$1,895	$2,045	3
105	Walnut Creek	$1,900	$2,484	14
106	West Covina	$1,915	$2,049	13
107	Orange	$1,925	$2,295	11
108	Alhambra	$1,925	$2,141	3
109	Santa Clarita	$1,948	$2,276	13
110	West Hollywood	$1,950	$2,375	17
111	San Rafael	$1,950	$2,450	8
112	Westminster	$1,950	$2,195	7
113	El Dorado Hills	$1,963	$1,986	3
114	Vista	$1,975	$2,428	16
115	San Jose	$1,975	$2,700	73
116	Novato	$1,975	$2,198	4
117	Menifee	$1,995	$2,233	4
118	Oceanside	$1,995	$2,396	19
119	Tustin	$1,995	$2,099	4
120	Sherman Oaks	$1,995	$2,148	6
121	Ventura	$2,000	$2,321	9
122	San Clemente	$2,000	$2,529	5
123	Rancho Cucamonga	$2,025	$2,247	11
124	Brea	$2,030	$2,240	7
125	Wildomar	$2,033	$2,125	3
126	Union City	$2,050	$2,580	3
127	Chino Hills	$2,065	$2,348	8
128	Placentia	$2,085	$2,207	4
129	Mission Viejo	$2,091	$2,315	4
130	Huntington Beach	$2,095	$2,350	22
131	San Marcos	$2,095	$2,166	4
132	Monrovia	$2,099	$2,226	3
133	Thousand Oaks	$2,115	$2,688	8
134	Costa Mesa	$2,150	$2,335	11
135	Culver City	$2,150	$2,712	6
136	Campbell	$2,150	$2,500	9
137	Camarillo	$2,150	$2,537	12
138	Newark	$2,174	$2,417	3
139	Berkeley	$2,195	$3,095	7
140	Mountain View	$2,195	$3,319	15
141	Simi Valley	$2,219	$2,428	8
142	Lake Forest	$2,225	$2,562	6
143	Dublin	$2,247	$2,534	8
144	Woodland Hills	$2,272	$2,493	4
145	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2,277	$2,335	5
146	Redwood City	$2,295	$3,546	5
147	Palo Alto	$2,295	$2,813	4
148	Santa Clara	$2,295	$2,999	21
149	Fountain Valley	$2,299	$2,353	4
150	Irvine	$2,305	$2,693	8
151	Santa Cruz	$2,310	$2,950	9
152	Laguna Hills	$2,315	$2,400	4
153	Valencia	$2,320	$2,545	3
154	San Francisco	$2,348	$4,061	35
155	Carlsbad	$2,356	$2,798	11
156	Petaluma	$2,356	$2,624	5
157	Pleasanton	$2,359	$2,590	6
158	Newport Beach	$2,385	$2,575	4
159	Cupertino	$2,400	$3,345	7
160	Emeryville	$2,430	$3,038	3
161	Brentwood	$2,436	$2,486	3
162	San Mateo	$2,488	$3,195	9
163	Santa Monica	$2,495	$3,065	19
164	Laguna Niguel	$2,500	$2,677	9
165	Belmont	$2,500	$2,671	4
166	Aliso Viejo	$2,515	$2,610	9
167	Milpitas	$2,572	$3,103	8
168	Menlo Park	$2,595	$3,825	4
169	South San Francisco	$2,650	$3,421	3
170	Beverly Hills	$2,695	$3,125	10
171	Burlingame	$2,695	$3,996	5
172	Daly City	$2,719	$2,929	3
173	Dana Point	$2,825	$2,894	4
174	Foster City	$2,908	$3,092	4
175	Morgan Hill	$2,937	$2,984	3
176	Goleta	$3,021	$3,460	5
177	Larkspur	$3,323	$3,456	3
178	Los Gatos	$3,448	$3,568	3

Landing one before it’s gone

Cheap one-beds don’t sit. The realistic play: pick two or three cities you’d genuinely live in, save a search for each, and be ready to tour and apply the same week something lands, with deposit and paperwork already in hand. If you’re flexible on location, aim at the cities near the top of this list; a fifteen-minute longer commute is often worth a few hundred dollars a month. And sort by price before you judge a city. One underpriced unit doesn’t make the whole place cheap, which is exactly why the median column is there.

Methodology

We took every one-bedroom apartment we currently track in California (2,114 of them) and grouped them by city. “From” is the cheapest one-bed listed there today; “median” is the midpoint, so half are cheaper and half pricier. A city needs at least three live one-bedrooms to appear, and rooms and senior housing are excluded. Figures update with our listing data (last updated Jun 9, 2026).

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest 1-bedroom apartment in California right now?

The lowest one-bed we're tracking starts at $852/mo, and Chico is the most affordable city overall (around $1,250/mo median). The statewide one-bedroom median is $2,203/mo.

How much does a 1-bedroom cost in California on average?

The median one-bedroom rents for about $2,203/mo across the 2,114 we track, so half cost less and half cost more. Where you look swings it by hundreds a month.

How do I get a cheap 1-bedroom before it is gone?

Cheap one-beds do not sit. Pick two or three cities you would genuinely live in, save a search for each, and be ready to tour and apply the same week one lists, with your deposit and paperwork ready.

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Budget Leases is an independent rental tracker and isn’t affiliated with any listing provider. Rents and availability change constantly, so always confirm the current price on the original listing before you make a decision.