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Signs advertising San Francisco apartments for rent are seen in 2024. This year, rents in the city are increasing. (Lea Suzuki\/The Chronicle) <\/p>\n Signs advertising San Francisco apartments for rent are seen in 2024. This year, rents in the city are increasing. (Lea Suzuki\/The Chronicle) <\/p>\n
San Francisco and Los Angeles apartment rents are diverging.<\/p>\n
The city of Los Angeles’ median rent was down 1.8% in January to $2,033 for one- and two-bedrooms compared to the prior year, the lowest rate since 2021, according to Apartment List.<\/a><\/p>\n In contrast, San Francisco prices are up a whopping 13%<\/a> in the same period, among the highest gains in the country – which is seeing a national slump in prices. At $3,126 per month, San Francisco also has the highest rate since late 2019, though still below that year’s peak.<\/p>\n Before the pandemic, San Francisco’s rents were about $1,000 per month higher than those in Los Angeles. That gap narrowed to around $500 in early 2021 but is now widening.<\/p>\n { “__type”: “devHubFreeformEmbed”, “__id”: “Datawrapper”, “__fallbackImage”: “https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/Wph6B\/mobile.png”, “__data”: { “datawrapper_id”: “Wph6B” } }<\/p>\n “Supply is a factor. San Francisco has had a declining multifamily construction pipeline since 2018, whereas L.A. remained elevated through 2022,” said Rob Warnock, lead economic researcher at Apartment List.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles area saw 15,095 multifamily units completed in 2025, an 18% increase from the prior year, according to real estate data firm CoStar. In contrast, production in San Francisco plunged after the pandemic,<\/a> with housing completions in 2024 dropping to the lowest in a decade.<\/a><\/p>\n “Construction in both cities is trending down,<\/a> as it is everywhere, but those several additional years of strong production in L.A. are paying dividends today by providing more apartments to absorb demand longer,” Warnock said.<\/p>\n Amid new supply, Los Angeles’ vacancy rate climbed to 6.1%, a four-year high, while San Francisco’s was down to just 3.3% in January, lower than 2019’s 4%, according to Apartment List. Bidding wars and crowded open houses marked last year’s rental market.<\/p>\n Both cities’ job markets have weakened over the past year. According to state data, Los Angeles County lost a net 6,700 jobs between December 2025 and December 2024, including 19,200 cuts in professional and business services, as well as 11,800 losses in trade, transportation and utilities.<\/p>\n San Francisco and San Mateo County lost a net 4,400 jobs during that time, including 4,500 job losses in the tech-heavy information sector.<\/p>\n The artificial intelligence boom hasn’t resulted in the massive tech job creation seen in the Bay Area during the 2010s, and tech giants have continued layoffs this year.<\/a> But on a smaller scale, massive office leases by AI companies appear to be bolstering the east side of the city.<\/p>\n Rental listings in the 94158 zip code that includes Mission Bay, where OpenAI and Nvidia have signed leases, have soared 36% over the past year, according to Apartment List. Rents in the surrounding 94107 zip code that spans South of Market, Potrero Hill and Dogpatch are up 21%.<\/p>\n “Demand is skyrocketing thanks to the AI industry,” said Warnock.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Los Angeles has endured a series of challenges including strikes and outsourcing in Hollywood, the 2025 wildfires and immigration raids. Los Angeles County has continued to lose tens of thousands of residents in recent years even as the pandemic fades from memory.<\/p>\n Though it’s still grappling with lower office attendance and transit ridership compared to 2019, San Francisco is seeing slight population growth,<\/a> according to state data.<\/p>\n Apartment rents in Los Angeles are dropping, partially because of an increasing housing supply. (Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) <\/p>\n