San Francisco is Most-Expensive US City for Two-Bedroom Rent

San Francisco reclaimed its top spot as the priciest market in the country for two-bedroom apartments.

The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the city is $5,120, which is $50 higher than in New York, the San Francisco Business Times reported, citing Zumper’s February National Rent Index.

It marks the first time since 2023 that San Francisco’s two-bedroom rent surpassed New York’s. New York still leads in one-bedroom rent prices.

San Francisco also led the nation in annual rent growth for one-and two-bedroom apartments.

Median rent for a one-bedroom rose 15.6 percent year-over-year and two-bedroom rent increased 21.3 percent. In addition to posting the fastest annual increase nationwide, San Francisco also ranked as the only top 10 city with double-digit rent growth. Last September, rents for both one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms surpassed pre-pandemic highs.

The growth in rents is linked to demand from high earners working in the burgeoning tech and artificial intelligence fields. More companies, including AI giants like OpenAI, Anthropic and Databricks, are expanding their presence in the city, bringing more workers along with them and squeezing the city’s already-strapped apartment market.

Two-bedrooms appeal to professionals seeking to split costs with a roommate, couples who want home office space or higher-income renters looking for an extra room, Zumper spokesperson Crystal Chen said.

Meanwhile, remote work models that spread during the pandemic are fading away. Last year, San Francisco pulled itself out of last place in return-to-work mandates. The surge of employees moving into town is also exerting pressure on both demand and pricing for apartments, and experts don’t see an end in sight.

San Francisco’s rent increases fly in the face of nationwide trends. Across the country, annual rents are on the decline. The national one-bedroom median rent fell 1.7 percent year-over-year to $1,499, while median rents for two-bedrooms dropped 1.4 percent to $1,878.— Chris Malone Méndez