28 Apartments for rent in Salinas, CA
You choose
Top picks for you
You Choose
Explore by Map
So you’re relocating to the Monterey peninsula area, and you’ve got your sights set on Salinas, California! A quick jaunt from the Pacific coast, it was once a little settlement that grew out of two intersecting stagecoach routes. Let’s narrow in on the Salinas renting specifics, prior to giving you a little overview of living in this big city, shall we?
So now that you’ve got a feel for the city itself, let’s talk about the rental market. You’re lucky in this area, because not only is Salinas a veritable garden of rentals (pun definitely intended), but it’s also decently cheap compared to rental prices for the rest of California. Most places will still be over a thousand dollars per month on average, but may end up being cheaper than similar places nearby. The feel of the city is very suburban, with pockets of neighborhood streets joined together by major artery roads with shopping centers.
Varieties: Based on the needs of the population, many single-family rental houses are available in Salinas. The majority of these are smaller, older bungalows though in some areas (especially around the outskirts of the city) you’re likely to find more new construction and spacious houses or townhouses that will be a bit more expensive. Apartments in Salinas are usually small, low-level complexes nestled in amongst single-family homes. Don’t expect to find a lot of pristine luxury high-rise type digs in this city.
Unique Things and Utilities: A lot of what you’ll find depends on where you’re looking. With any place, you can expect at least a little bit of yard nearby and more than likely somewhere to put your car, whether it be a garage, a car port or a parking lot. More expensive places will be more spacious and may have better quality appliances, but on the whole, rentals in Salinas come equipped with your standard basics for living. Finding utilities included in your rent is easier if you’re looking for an apartment, but it’s not unheard of for the occasional rental house to throw some of those in, as well. Another interesting quirk you may find is that it’s a little easier to find a furnished apartment in Salinas. Of course, these types of places are a little pricier and may require a bit of extra searching, but they do exist.
Extras and Fees: Despite being the cheaper option, you may find renting in Salinas to be a bit trickier than some other places. Many landlords or rental companies require a credit check (which usually means an extra fee tacked on) and can be strict about past rental and financial history. Then again, this can depend on what area of the city you’re actually looking in, as many places may do the exact opposite. One last fee to look out for is the pet fee. A pet deposit and some restrictions are usually required, and you may even be asked to pay a monthly “pet rent” in some buildings.
Salinas doesn’t have any official neighborhood boundaries, per se, but many people refer to the different sides of the city, so we’ll give you a quick overview of them to get you familiar. Salinas is really a mixed bag. Make sure to do plenty of your own research, and always check out the place for yourself before making a decision.
Downtown/ Old Town The center of the city is more a commercial area than anything else. Though there are a lot of rentals here, they tend to be smaller. On the whole, the downtown area is cheaper. A portion of downtown, called Old Town, has restaurants, shopping and the Steinbeck museum, among other things.
East Salinas Especially closer to the outskirts of town, houses get a little larger and may run more expensive.
North Salinas Both the North and East sides are dense with cheap rentals.
South Salinas Many refer to South Salinas as if it were its own little town, separate from the rest of the city, but it's an area of mostly single-family homes.
Salinas has a literary history, being the hometown of famous author and Nobel laureate John Steinbeck. Though the city has definitely changed a little since Steinbeck’s last spin around the park, his influence still shows downtown at destinations such as his boyhood home and the Steinbeck Center. Salinas is also a major stop on the national rodeo circuit. At least you know you’ll have some variety, so here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re checking the place out for living potential.
Like much of California, beautiful scenery isn’t far from reach. One side of Salinas is bordered by snow-capped mountains, yet if you head just eight miles in the other direction you’re bound for the sandy coast. Nearby Monterey Bay lets cool ocean air into Salinas Valley, making for a moderate climate. Summers are milder and wetter (also foggier!) than surrounding areas.
Salinas and its rentals are quite car-friendly. Interstates to nearby cities run right through downtown, making commuting by car one of the easiest ways to get around. It isn’t a big city for walking, though there are bike lanes and bike trails if that’s your preferred commute style. Monterey-Salinas Transit also operates a bus system that includes routes through Salinas, as well as through neighboring cities.
April 2018 Salinas Rent Report
Welcome to the April 2018 Salinas Rent Report. Salinas rents remained steady over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Salinas rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Salinas rents held steady over the past month
Salinas rents have remained flat over the past month, however, they are up slightly by 1.9% year-over-year. Currently, median rents in Salinas stand at $1,640 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,050 for a two-bedroom. Salinas' year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 2.9%, as well as the national average of 2.0%.
Rents rising across cities in California
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Salinas, but across the entire state. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in California, all of them have seen prices rise. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 2.9% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.
- Looking throughout the state, San Francisco is the most expensive of all California's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $3,060; of the 10 largest California cities that we have data for, all have seen rents rise year-over-year, with Sacramento experiencing the fastest growth (+6.8%).
- Oakland, Anaheim, and Fresno have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (6.6%, 6.0%, and 5.0%, respectively).
Many large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to Salinas
As rents have increased slightly in Salinas, a few large cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Compared to most large cities across the country, Salinas is less affordable for renters.
- Salinas' median two-bedroom rent of $2,050 is above the national average of $1,170. Nationwide, rents have grown by 2.0% over the past year compared to the 1.9% rise in Salinas.
- While Salinas' rents rose slightly over the past year, many cities nationwide also saw increases, including Phoenix (+2.9%), Atlanta (+2.2%), and Denver (+1.9%).
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Salinas than most large cities. For example, Detroit has a median 2BR rent of $890, where Salinas is more than twice 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.
Salinas Renter Confidence Survey
Here’s how Salinas ranks on:
Apartment List has released results for Salinas 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.
“Salinas renters are highly dissatisfied with their city overall” says Andrew Woo, Director of Data Science at Apartment List. “Most categories received below-average ratings.”
Key findings in Salinas include the following:
- Salinas renters gave their city an F overall in satisfaction.
- The highest-rated categories for Salinas were quality of local schools (A-) and access to public transit (B-).
- Renters were most dissatisfied with commute times (D), affordability (D), and safety (F).
- Salinas renters are far less satisfied with their city than renters in other California cities like San Francisco (A-), San Jose (C-), and Sacramento (C).
- 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.