Average rent in Santa Cruz, CA
As of July 2026, the typical asking rent in the Santa Cruz, CA metro area is $3,539 per month, up 3.6% from a year ago — 138% above the US metro average of $1,486.
Figures cover all property types — single-family, condo and apartment — at every bedroom count. The interactive map can break rents down by home type.
Average rent
$3,539
July 2026
Year over year
+3.6%
vs $3,415 a year ago
3-year change
+6.6%
from $3,321
Our forecast accuracy here
±1.1%
avg error on held-out data
Santa Cruz, CA rent history
Observed market rent since September 2016, with the next 2 forecast months and their expected range.
Santa Cruz, CA rent forecast
Our forecasting engine projects rents each month for every US metro with at least a year of observed data. The next 2 months for Santa Cruz, CA are free below; the full 12-month outlook with confidence ranges is part of RentLens Pro.
| Month | Forecast rent | Expected range |
|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | $3,553 | $3,513–$3,590 |
| September 2026 | $3,555 | $3,500–$3,616 |
| Months 3–12 are available on the interactive forecast → see the full Santa Cruz, CA forecast | ||
Explore Santa Cruz, CA on the live map
Interactive history, zip-level rents, and 12-month ML forecasts with explainability.
More California metros
Rent figures are smoothed median asking rents (Zillow Observed Rent Index) for the Santa Cruz, CA metro area, updated monthly. Forecasts are produced by RentLens's proprietary ML models; “forecast accuracy” is this metro's average prediction error on held-out historical data.