Rent prices are up in most of the Bay Area in past years — except in these ZIP codes (2024)

Three years after the pandemic began,rental prices in the city of San Francisco are still less expensive than before, while rents in other parts of the Bay Area have surged.

San Francisco’s typical asking rent was $3,440 a month in February 2023, according to data from the real estate listing site Zillow, after dropping by about 3.7% from $3,570 in February 2020. But the larger San Francisco metropolitan area, one of the most expensive places in the country, saw rents rise from $2,930 to $3,080, a 5.4% increase. The San Francisco metro area includes Oakland, Berkeley and Marin County, but not San Jose.

National rent prices jumped even more, rising by 25.8% over the three years.

But even within the city of San Francisco, there have been diverging rental price trends, according to ZIP code level estimates from Zillow. For example, the 94112 ZIP code area, which includes Balboa Park and Excelsior, saw typical rent rise about 20% from $2,790 to $3,350. The 94116 ZIP code in the Sunset District increased by nearly 15% from $2,840 to $3,250.

But most San Francisco ZIP codes, especially those in and around downtown, saw rents decline. The 94102 ZIP code, which includes the Civic Center and part of the Tenderloin, had the largest percentage decrease in the city, falling more than 10% from $3,050 to $2,730.

Zillow doesn’t have historical rental data for every ZIP code in the Bay Area, particularly ZIP codes with few rental homes and small populations. The map below shows rental price changes for those ZIP codes for which there were estimates in both February2022 and February2023.

Typical rent in Oakland’s downtown, represented by the 94612 ZIP code, fell even further. Prices dropped by about13% from $3,390 to $2,940, reflecting the largest percentage decrease in the nine-county Bay Area.

Such drops were generally rare outside of the city of San Francisco. In most of the Bay Area, particularly in rural and suburban counties, rents now exceed pre-pandemic levels.

For example, the 94558 ZIP code, which includes part of Napa, increased by an estimated 30% from $2,190 to $2,830. The 94520 ZIP code in Concord jumped from $2,080 to $2,570.

Even with lower rents than before the pandemic, San Francisco remains one of the Bay Area’s more expensive places to rent. The city’s highest-priced ZIP code, the 94105 area that includes part of the Financial District, had a typical rent of $4,190.

But a handful of other places have that number beat. The 94022 ZIP code in Los Altos Hills was the most expensive in the Bay Area, with the typical estimated rent at about $5,650. Like the nearby suburb of Atherton, for which Zillow didn’t have rental data, Los Altos Hills has historically resisted the presence of multifamily homes.

The type of rental housing available in an area can influence the typical price there. For example, a ZIP code whose rentals are mostly one-bedroom apartments could have a lower typical price than another ZIP code with a lot of three-bedroom condominiums.

On the other end of the scale is the 94525 ZIP code south of Vallejo, which Zillow indicates has the Bay Area’s lowest rent of $1,990. The second-lowest rent price, at $2,040, is in the 94601 ZIP code, which includes Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. That ZIP code’s typical rent was nearly $200 cheaper in 2020.

Reach Christian Leonard: Christian.Leonard@hearst.com