More Sacramento renters are looking to leave the region. Here’s where they’re ending up

After years of huge rent increases, more Sacramento apartment hunters have had enough.

Roughly 42% of Sacramento renters looking for an apartment are focusing their searches on cities outside the region, according to new data from online rental company Apartment List. That includes 27% of area renters who are looking to relocate outside of California.

Both marks are well above pre-pandemic levels, according to Apartment List.

The top destination for Sacramento renters looking to make a move was San Francisco, with 10.2% of apartment hunters here looking at rentals in the city by the bay. Reno was the second-most popular destination, followed by San Jose.

Other cities attracting interest from Sacramento renters include San Diego; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; New York and Seattle.

California is experiencing a major exodus to other states. Nearly 695,000 people left California for other states in 2020 and 430,000 migrated here, a net loss of about 265,000 residents, according to the latest census data.

San Francisco remains a major origin for those moving here, according to the Apartment List data. Of outsiders looking to rent in Sacramento, 28% are in San Francisco. San Jose, Los Angeles, Seattle, Las Vegas and Dallas also were top origins.

Rent increases across the Sacramento region have slowed a bit after years of historic spikes. However, the average rent in the region is still up 11.5% since last year. The interactive map below shows the rent change for nearly every ZIP code in the region between April 2021 and April 2022.

This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 8:36 AM.