Nearly One in Five California Renters Pays $3K-Plus in Rent

More than a million Californians now pay at least $3,000 a month for their apartment rent, twice as many as in 2019.

California led the nation last year with 1.07 million households paying $3,000 or more a month to their landlords, the Orange County Register reported, citing figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. Rents above the $3,000 threshold is the most expensive category tracked by the federal agency.

In the past five years, the state’s $3,000 Club grew by 587,787 households — the largest increase in the nation. Last year, 18.3 percent of California renters paid $3,000 or more, up from 8.3 percent in 2019.

Last year, California ranked No. 2 in this share behind Hawaii at 21.2 percent, followed by Washington, D.C. at 16.8 percent, Massachusetts at 13.6 percent and New York at 12.8 percent. Texas was No. 23 at 2.9 percent and Florida No. 9 at 7.2 percent.

California’s $3,000 Club now make up 37 percent of the 2.9 million U.S. renters who shell out that much per month, with more high-paying tenants in California than the next five states combined — New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas and New Jersey.

Many factors have pushed rents skyward across the Golden State, according to the Register.

Above-average paychecks allow tenants to afford to pay this much, according to the newspaper. The state was already a heavily competitive market for housing, with rents rising after the pandemic.

At the same time, many California families can’t afford ownership, so they rent pricier houses.

California landlords have also pioneered the art of luxury rentals, which offer residents who can afford to buy many of the comforts of ownership, without the hassles.

While the state leads the nation in renters, at 5.85 million households, it doesn’t lead the nation in the growth of $3,000-a-month occupied rentals, according to the Register.

Between 2019 and last year, Californians paying at least $3,000 grew by 123 percent, but that’s the ninth-slowest upswing and below the 159 percent expansion nationwide.

Such high-cost rentals in Wyoming grew by 1,998 percent, 21 times the number in four years. West Virginia grew by 1,032 percent, followed by Mississippi at 650 percent, Maine at 638 percent and Delaware at 569 percent.

Texas was No. 24, up 251 percent and Florida, No. 12, was up 441 percent.

In North Dakota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas, fewer than 1 percent of renters pay more than $3,000 a month.

— Dana Bartholomew