Merced dubbed ‘most affordable’ in rent costs

When it comes to rent costs, Merced is the most affordable city in California, according to a new report put together by Zumper, a home and apartment rental search site.

The city’s current $550 median one-bedroom rent is $1,050 less expensive than the state median, the report said. It is also $2,950 less expensive than the median rent in San Francisco – the most expensive California city, according to the list.

The average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Merced is $750, up $20 from last year.

The report tracks only the 94 most populated cities in the state.

Merced is followed by a few other Valley cities in affordability, the report says. Visalia, with a median one-bedroom rent of $590, is the second most affordable city in the state.

Bakersfield, Fresno and Modesto also made the list. Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Fresno and Modesto averages $750.

San Francisco, at $3,500 in rent for a one-bedroom apartment, leads the most expensive list, followed by cities such as Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Monica and San Jose.

The report also noted the cities with the fastest-growing rents. The city of Hayward tops the list with a median growth rate of 24.3 percent in rent for a one-bedroom apartment. Its growth rate, according to the report, far outpaces the state median growth rate of 5.95 percent. The median one-bedroom rent in Hayward is $1,790, up $400 from last year.

The Zumper State Report analyzes rental data from more than 70,000 active listings across California. Data is aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents, according to the site.

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Merced dubbed ‘most affordable’ in rent costs."