California rent guide

The Cheapest Cities to Rent in California (June 2026)

Data as of Jun 5, 2026 · 3,687 rentals across 225 cities

California is one of the country’s priciest rental markets, but where you look matters more than most renters realize. Entry-level rent can swing by hundreds of dollars a month from one city to the next. We track every apartment we can find across the state and rank the cities below by their cheapest available rent, straight from live listings, not estimates.

Right now the most affordable entry point is Hemet (from $830/mo), while Cerritos carries the highest typical rent (around $4,350/mo median). Same state, wildly different math.

Cheapest California cities, ranked

#	City	From	Median	Listings
1	Hemet	$830	$1,575	14
2	Fresno	$850	$1,295	91
3	Los Angeles	$949	$2,200	410
4	Downey	$1,000	$1,850	27
5	Long Beach	$1,070	$2,195	101
6	Sacramento	$1,079	$1,655	85
7	Bellflower	$1,100	$1,895	18
8	Santa Rosa	$1,125	$2,107	32
9	San Bruno	$1,150	$2,945	4
10	Lake Elsinore	$1,150	$1,841	4
11	Palmdale	$1,159	$1,520	11
12	Alameda	$1,175	$2,425	70
13	Victorville	$1,190	$1,685	12
14	Fullerton	$1,200	$1,998	28
15	Torrance	$1,200	$2,395	38
16	Huntington Park	$1,200	$1,645	3
17	Rohnert Park	$1,200	$2,107	20
18	Riverside	$1,200	$1,982	46
19	San Bernardino	$1,200	$1,679	22
20	Ontario	$1,200	$2,189	21
21	Chino	$1,200	$2,300	3
22	Menifee	$1,200	$2,233	4
23	Redlands	$1,216	$2,037	19
24	Citrus Heights	$1,235	$1,619	12
25	San Jose	$1,250	$2,646	128
26	Vallejo	$1,250	$2,000	27
27	Madera	$1,250	$1,250	3
28	West Sacramento	$1,251	$1,749	5
29	Clovis	$1,265	$1,763	10
30	Davis	$1,270	$2,041	22
31	San Diego	$1,275	$2,420	201
32	Woodland	$1,295	$1,678	6
33	Lynwood	$1,297	$1,998	4
34	Oakland	$1,298	$2,320	109
35	Santa Ana	$1,300	$2,296	29
36	Glendale	$1,300	$2,400	44
37	Fairfield	$1,300	$1,975	39
38	Tulare	$1,300	$1,702	4
39	Tustin	$1,330	$2,360	10
40	Inglewood	$1,330	$2,373	48
41	Elk Grove	$1,333	$2,099	9
42	Rancho Cordova	$1,335	$1,559	8
43	Irvine	$1,350	$2,767	18
44	Orange	$1,350	$2,504	22
45	Cloverdale	$1,350	$2,375	7
46	Hesperia	$1,360	$1,922	10
47	San Gabriel	$1,364	$1,550	5
48	Lancaster	$1,370	$1,750	21
49	Roseville	$1,391	$2,145	21
50	Burbank	$1,395	$2,050	39
51	Richmond	$1,395	$2,100	6
52	Hayward	$1,400	$2,352	32
53	Corona	$1,400	$2,250	13
54	Perris	$1,400	$1,750	3
55	Escondido	$1,420	$2,427	21
56	Colton	$1,420	$1,779	7
57	Pittsburg	$1,445	$2,121	9
58	Pomona	$1,450	$1,800	17
59	Hawthorne	$1,450	$1,975	35
60	Hanford	$1,458	$1,519	3
61	Fair Oaks	$1,480	$1,700	9
62	Compton	$1,495	$1,698	4
63	Pasadena	$1,500	$2,400	27
64	Redwood City	$1,500	$2,945	12
65	Sunnyvale	$1,500	$2,815	39
66	Vacaville	$1,500	$2,208	18
67	Moreno Valley	$1,500	$1,938	16
68	Antioch	$1,508	$1,900	9
69	Pico Rivera	$1,525	$1,857	6
70	South Pasadena	$1,550	$2,025	5
71	El Cajon	$1,569	$2,014	40
72	Norwalk	$1,575	$2,047	12
73	Carlsbad	$1,575	$3,200	23
74	Emeryville	$1,582	$2,825	6
75	Pleasant Hill	$1,595	$2,272	9
76	Stanton	$1,600	$2,375	5
77	Gardena	$1,600	$1,850	14
78	South Gate	$1,600	$2,026	6
79	Rialto	$1,600	$1,875	7
80	Highland	$1,600	$1,650	5
81	Visalia	$1,617	$1,870	9
82	Concord	$1,630	$1,958	23
83	Berkeley	$1,642	$2,698	40
84	San Francisco	$1,645	$3,831	91
85	National City	$1,650	$1,846	8
86	Fontana	$1,650	$1,970	13
87	Rocklin	$1,670	$2,016	14
88	Encinitas	$1,675	$3,285	5
89	Fremont	$1,687	$2,405	32
90	Buena Park	$1,695	$2,128	16
91	Covina	$1,695	$2,175	8
92	Newark	$1,695	$2,564	6
93	Chula Vista	$1,697	$2,424	33
94	Anaheim	$1,700	$2,075	58
95	Garden Grove	$1,700	$2,000	13
96	Hercules	$1,700	$2,478	4
97	Upland	$1,700	$2,154	18
98	Dixon	$1,703	$1,825	3
99	Pleasanton	$1,725	$2,493	12
100	Vista	$1,740	$2,399	29
101	San Clemente	$1,750	$2,750	9
102	El Monte	$1,750	$1,915	6
103	Azusa	$1,750	$1,981	12
104	Monterey Park	$1,750	$2,798	6
105	San Leandro	$1,764	$2,235	19
106	San Pablo	$1,782	$2,650	5
107	Brea	$1,795	$2,753	6
108	Huntington Beach	$1,798	$2,415	30
109	Benicia	$1,799	$2,110	3
110	Folsom	$1,799	$1,989	15
111	La Puente	$1,800	$2,218	4
112	Petaluma	$1,800	$2,470	6
113	Murrieta	$1,800	$2,155	15
114	Gilroy	$1,806	$2,400	7
115	San Ramon	$1,816	$2,398	7
116	Claremont	$1,845	$1,975	3
117	Suisun City	$1,845	$2,333	7
118	Cypress	$1,850	$2,450	6
119	West Covina	$1,850	$2,258	14
120	Beverly Hills	$1,850	$2,975	28
121	Lawndale	$1,850	$2,450	5
122	West Hollywood	$1,850	$2,485	49
123	Napa	$1,856	$2,273	12
124	Walnut Creek	$1,893	$2,305	22
125	La Habra	$1,895	$2,496	6
126	Lafayette	$1,895	$2,210	3
127	Santa Clara	$1,895	$2,895	29
128	Paramount	$1,900	$2,250	4
129	Alhambra	$1,925	$2,650	7
130	Lomita	$1,925	$2,473	6
131	Santa Clarita	$1,948	$2,341	16
132	Montebello	$1,950	$2,173	4
133	San Rafael	$1,950	$2,600	15
134	El Dorado Hills	$1,963	$2,126	4
135	Novato	$1,975	$2,627	7
136	South San Francisco	$1,995	$3,240	8
137	Martinez	$2,000	$2,115	11
138	East Palo Alto	$2,000	$2,345	3
139	Temecula	$2,005	$2,200	9
140	Culver City	$2,037	$2,604	11
141	Union City	$2,050	$2,580	5
142	Daly City	$2,056	$2,621	6
143	Milpitas	$2,061	$3,207	10
144	Santa Monica	$2,095	$3,050	47
145	Monrovia	$2,095	$2,364	10
146	San Mateo	$2,095	$3,295	23
147	Redondo Beach	$2,099	$2,675	9
148	Costa Mesa	$2,100	$2,895	25
149	Calabasas	$2,100	$2,795	4
150	Westminster	$2,115	$2,319	10
151	Belmont	$2,125	$2,756	12
152	Rancho Cucamonga	$2,147	$2,471	11
153	Placentia	$2,150	$2,411	4
154	Campbell	$2,150	$2,700	11
155	Livermore	$2,175	$2,593	8
156	Chino Hills	$2,186	$2,355	5
157	Oceanside	$2,195	$2,595	25
158	Mountain View	$2,195	$3,413	29
159	San Marcos	$2,245	$2,603	12
160	Dublin	$2,247	$2,386	7
161	Arcadia	$2,250	$2,750	7
162	Burlingame	$2,250	$3,987	6
163	Aliso Viejo	$2,295	$2,653	7
164	Palo Alto	$2,295	$3,150	10
165	Fountain Valley	$2,299	$2,320	3
166	Laguna Hills	$2,315	$2,400	4
167	Duarte	$2,325	$2,450	3
168	Danville	$2,345	$3,800	9
169	Newport Beach	$2,385	$2,810	9
170	Menlo Park	$2,395	$3,445	6
171	Montclair	$2,404	$2,522	3
172	Lake Forest	$2,465	$2,554	3
173	Laguna Niguel	$2,500	$2,751	9
174	Sonoma	$2,600	$2,825	4
175	Mill Valley	$2,700	$2,850	3
176	Cerritos	$2,711	$4,350	3
177	Dana Point	$2,825	$2,895	5
178	Los Gatos	$2,895	$3,172	4
179	Morgan Hill	$2,937	$3,294	5
180	Cupertino	$3,095	$3,423	9

How we rank cities

“From” is the single cheapest currently-listed unit in that city; “median” is the midpoint rent across everything we track there, so half of listings are cheaper and half pricier. We only include cities with at least three live listings, and we exclude single rooms and age-restricted (senior) housing so the comparison is apples-to-apples. Figures refresh whenever our listing data does (last updated Jun 5, 2026).

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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.