Here’s what you need to earn to afford a two-bedroom rental in each Sacramento community
Median rents in the Sacramento region have climbed to the point that hundreds of thousands of households can’t afford a two-bedroom place, according to a Bee review of data from real estate tracking firm Zillow.com.
The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment or home was about $1,450 in January, up by $100 compared to January 2016. Median rents in the region have climbed $250 since January 2014.
Real estate experts often advise households not to spend more than a third of their income on rent. At current price levels, more than 40 percent of households in the Sacramento region would spend too much of their income on rent for a typical two-bedroom.
The region’s cheapest rentals were in the Rosemont community, where a two-bedroom rental typically costs about $1,100 a month, according to Zillow. A household would need to make about $40,000 a year to afford that apartment. About 265,000 households in the region make less than $40,000 annually, census figures show.
The region’s most expensive rentals were in El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay and near downtown Sacramento. Rent for a two-bedroom in those areas is typically north of $1,750.
Even with the large price increases, the Sacramento region remains affordable relative to other large metropolitan areas in California. Median rent for a two-bedroom in the Los Angeles metro stood at $2,550 in January. In the San Francisco metro, it was just over $3,000.
This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Here’s what you need to earn to afford a two-bedroom rental in each Sacramento community."