What is California’s hottest rental market? This city is No. 2 in the nation
Finding a rental property can be challenging, especially during peak moving season.
According to a recent report from RentCafe, one California city is among the top 10 trending rental markets in the United States in 2025, with some of the fastest-rising rent prices in the state.
To rank the 139 largest rental markets, RentCafe looked at factors that make a market competitive, including occupancy rates, how long apartments stay vacant, the number of renters competing for properties and the the availability of new apartments.
RentCafe created a Rental Competitiveness Index to gauge how competitive the U.S. rental market is during peak moving season.
For 2025, the national score sits at 74.6 — signaling a very tight real estate market.
Here’s which California city made RentCafe’s list of the 10 hottest rental markets in the nation:
What’s the most competitive rental market in the US?
The suburbs of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota claimed the top spot on RentCafe’s list of the top-trending rental markets in the United States.
“With limited supply, more renters are staying put” in suburban Twin Cities, the apartment website said.
That’s caused the lease renewal rate to increase from 61.1% to 64.1%, RentCafe said in its Sept. 22 report. “New apartments make up just 0.54% of the stock, down from 0.86% a year ago.”
What is top trending rental market in California?
San Francisco was the second-fastest growing rental market in the nation over the summer, RentCafe said, with its rental competitive score rising 5.4 points from 2024 to 72.4.
The city’s rental boom is fueled by the tech industry, more workers returning to offices and an ongoing housing shortage, according to the apartment website.
Nearly half of renters renewed their leases in the Bay Area city — an increase of 47.5% from 2024 — pushing occupancy to 95.3% from 93.3%, RentCafe.
“It’s worth noting here that demand for apartments in San Francisco is so strong that the number of renters competing for each unit has nearly doubled, jumping from seven to 13,” RentCafe said. “Now, vacant apartments fill in about 41 days on average, or two days faster than last summer.”
Where are top 10 hottest rental markets in 2025?
According to RentCafe, here were the top 10 trending rental markets in 2025:
- 1. Suburban Twin Cities, Minneapolis
- 2. San Francisco
- 3. Twin Cities, Minneapolis
- 4. Chicago
- 5. Philadelphia
- 6. Queens, New York City, New York
- 7. Manhattan, New York City, New York
- 8. Jacksonville, Florida
- 9. Charleston, South Carolina
- 10. Orlando
What is contributing to rental competition across the US?
The RentCafe report examined how long renters stay in their apartments and how often they renew their leases to understand what’s driving rental competition.
The apartment found that renters who sign longer leases are more likely to extend them, and areas where renters stay put tend to have higher renewal rates overall.
Nationwide, the average renter stays about 28 months — or a little over two years — with most new leases lasting a year and renewals adding another 12 months.
As a whole, California received a score of 72.5 out of 100 for rental competitiveness.
Which California cities have the toughest rental markets?
Along with San Francisco, these California regions ranked among the most competitive rental markets, according to RentCafe:
- Central Coast
- Central Valley
- East Bay
- Eastern Los Angeles County
- Inland Empire
- Orange County
- Sacramento
- San Diego
- Silicon Valley
- Ventura County
- Western Los Angeles County
How did RentCafe come up with its findings?
RentCafe analyzed 139 rental markets from April through June to rank the most competitive places to rent.
Markets were scored based on five factors: occupancy rate, average days vacant, renters per available unit, lease renewal rates and the share of new apartments added.
Each factor was weighted to calculate an overall competitiveness score, showing which markets are toughest for renters, RentCafe said.
This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What is California’s hottest rental market? This city is No. 2 in the nation."
