San Diego's Rent Prices Stabilize After Pandemic Surge

Renters in San Diego may be feeling some relief as the cost of renting in the city appears to be on the downward trend, according to data from Zillow as of September. However, rental costs are still much higher than their pre-pandemic levels, data showed.

The most recent data on Zillow reported the median monthly cost of renting a one-bedroom in the city as $2,395. That’s slightly less than the same time last year, when the median cost was $2,595, according to Zillow. (Graph below illustrates how the cost of renting a one-bedroom has changed since January)

The cost of renting a one-bedroom in San Diego has decreased from 2023. (Zillow)

Currently, the cost of rent for a one-bedroom is 50% higher than the national median, Zillow’s website showed.

Meanwhile, the cost of renting a two-bedroom has also dropped in the last year. The median rental price as of September was $3,200 on Zillow compared to $3,440 the same month last year. Rental prices are still considered more expensive than the rest of the country.

According to Zillow, the median rent for a two-bedroom property in the city is 67% higher than the nationwide cost. (See graph below to see how the cost of renting a two-bedroom has changed since January)

The cost of renting a two-bedroom in San Diego has decreased from 2023. (Zillow)

Although the average rental prices are slightly lower than last year’s numbers, they are nowhere near what they were before the pandemic.

New data gathered by Apartment List showed that overall rent in the city fell 0.3% in August. It followed a very modest trend of price changes seen over the past year — rent in San Diego has only decreased 3.8% since August of last year.

There is a silver lining for renters, though. San Diego has seen a slower rate of growth this year compared to what the city saw around the same time last year, when rents had gone up by 4.1% between January through August.

Nationwide, rents have only decreased 0.1%.

According to the most recent report, San Diego remained an expensive place to live, ranking 11th out of the largest U.S. cities with a median rent of $2,325.

The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is currently $1,982 and $2,484 for a two-bedroom, the data showed. The median rent in the greater San Diego metro area is $2,291.

Data showed Oceanside is currently the most expensive city for renters while La Mesa is the most affordable.

The table below shows rental data for seven cities in the San Diego metro area: