356 Apartments for rent in Berkeley, CA
📍Average Rent in Berkeley
First, though, let’s take a moment to answer some questions we know you must have about life in Berkeley.
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The streets of Berkeley are dotted with museums, bookstores, bistros, coffee houses, live music haunts, vinyl record shops (yes, those still exist), art galleries, parks, botanical gardens, theaters, and a variety of low-budget, mid-priced, and high-end eateries.
Bottom line: Berkeley has something for everyone, and you could live there for years before discovering every last attraction the city has to offer.
A studio unit or modest 1-BR pad is likely to cost $1200 or more unless you come across a killer move-in special (which is rare). If you want a place with a little extra leg room (800 square feet or more), be prepared to buck up between $2100 and $3500.
The city has plenty of quality lodgings, but it’s important to realize that you’ll be paying as much for the atmosphere outside your walls in Berkeley as you will for your actual apartment. If you prefer spaciousness and solitude over hustle and bustle, concentrate on the Berkeley Hills neighborhoods further from the city center. As far as amenities like tenant parking, washer/dryer availability go, they differ from place to place, so scope out a residence carefully before signing the dotted line.
It all depends. The further you go from the city center, the more likely you are to come across available rentals. In the more laid-back North Berkeley and Berkeley Hills neighborhoods, for example, apartments, townhouses, and freestanding houses are easier to come by. Our advice is this: If possible, begin your apartment search during the renting “offseason,” mid-March to early April, when many renters are nearing the ends of their leases. Move-in specials aren’t exactly abundant during these months, but at least your selection pool will be a bit wider.
Just like apartment managers everywhere, landlords/property managers in Berkeley require some basic documentation from prospective leasers, including a list of previous residences, a certified check that covers your move-in/good faith deposit, and banking/income verification. Most apartments will run credit and background checks on you. So, you may need a co-signer to cover you in case you conveniently forget to pay the piper one month.
Also, you should approach your leasing application like a job interview. Expect apartment managers in Berkeley to toss you some questions that landlords in other cities won’t. What hours do you keep? What kind of music do you listen to? How often do you have company? What kind of, um, extracurricular activities are you into? Keep in mind that Berkeley is a seller’s market, and landlords generally have no trouble filling their rooms, so they can afford to be choosy.
Instead of relying on your own set of wheels, you may want to take advantage of the city bus or the BART subway, which hauls commuters not only around Berkeley but also to San Francisco and Oakland. The inner city is also extremely biker and walker-friendly, and most streets are equipped with sidewalks and bike paths.
Got it? Good! Enjoy your apartment hunting adventures and welcome to Berkeley!
August 2019 Berkeley Rent Report
Welcome to the August 2019 Berkeley Rent Report. Berkeley rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Berkeley rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
August 2019 Berkeley Rent Report
Welcome to the August 2019 Berkeley Rent Report. Berkeley rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Berkeley rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
Berkeley rents decline sharply over the past month
Berkeley rents have declined 1.1% over the past month, but have been relatively flat at 0.2% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Berkeley stand at $2,090 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,626 for a two-bedroom. Berkeley's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.1%, as well as the national average of 1.6%.
Rents rising across the San Francisco Metro
While rents have remained steady in the city of Berkeley throughout the past year, cities across the metro have seen a different trend. Rents have risen in 8 of of the largest 10 cities in the San Francisco metro for which we have data. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- San Mateo has the most expensive rents in the San Francisco metro, with a two-bedroom median of $4,488; the city has also seen rent growth of 1.9% over the past year, the fastest in the metro.
- Over the past month, Daly City has seen the biggest rent drop in the metro, with a decline of 1.3%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $3,354, while one-bedrooms go for $2,670.
- Oakland has the least expensive rents in the San Francisco metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,236; rents were up 1.1% over the past month but fell 0.3% over the past year.
Many large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to Berkeley
Rent growth in Berkeley has been relatively stable over the past year - some other large cities have seen more substantial increases. Compared to most large cities across the country, Berkeley is less affordable for renters.
- Other cities across the state have seen rents slightly increase, with California as a whole logging rent growth of 1.1% over the past year. For example, rents have grown by 1.5% in San Jose, 0.5% in Los Angeles, and 0.5% in San Diego.
- Berkeley's median two-bedroom rent of $2,626 is above the national average of $1,191. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.6% over the past year compared to the stagnant growth in Berkeley.
- While rents in Berkeley remained moderately stable this year, similar cities saw increases, including Phoenix (+3.7%), Austin (+3.3%), and Dallas (+2.1%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $1,085, $1,460, and $1,134 respectively.
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Berkeley than most large cities. For example, Phoenix has a median 2BR rent of $1,085, where Berkeley is nearly two-and-a-half times that price.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.
Renter Confidence Survey
Apartment List has released results for Berkeley from the second annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. The survey, which drew on responses from over 30,000 renters, provides insight into what states and cities must do to meet the needs of the 105 million American renters nationwide.
“Renters in Berkeley are fairly well satisfied with their city,” says Andrew Woo, Director of D...
Here’s how Berkeley ranks on:
Apartment List has released results for Berkeley from the second annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. The survey, which drew on responses from over 30,000 renters, provides insight into what states and cities must do to meet the needs of the 105 million American renters nationwide.
“Renters in Berkeley are fairly well satisfied with their city,” says Andrew Woo, Director of Data Science at Apartment List. “They gave many categories above-average scores.”
Key findings in Berkeley include the following:
- Berkeley renters give their city an A- overall for satisfaction.
- The highest-rated category for Berkeley was its access to public transit, which received an A+.
- Other well-rated categories in Berkeley were weather (A) and local job and career opportunities (A-).
- Renters seemed somewhat concerned with the quality of local schools (B) and safety and low crime rates (C+).
- The greatest cause of dissatisfaction in Berkeley was affordability/cost of living, which received an F score from renters.
- Renter satisfaction in Berkeley is slightly lower than nearby Walnut Creek (A+) and much higher than Oakland (F). Renters here are just as satisfied as renters in San Francisco, which also received an A-.
- The top rated cities nationwide for renter satisfaction included Arlington, VA; Lincoln, NE; Pasadena, CA; Boston, MA; and Madison, WI. The lowest rated cities included Newark, NJ; Bronx, NY; Bridgeport, CT; Baltimore, MD; and Salinas, CA.