The average rent in Sacramento is about $2,045 a month: Zillow's typical asking rent for the city in September 2026, up 1.2% in a year and 14.6% in five. Across the nearby suburbs it runs from $1,757 in Carmichael to $2,688 in Elk Grove. The index mixes apartments with houses, so read it as a market signal and price your own house from nearby single-family rentals.
You own a rental house in or around Sacramento and want to know what rent it can bring, how rents compare with what the house is worth, and what that means if you're weighing a sale.
Average rent in Sacramento and its suburbs, September 2026
| City | Typical rent | Past year | Typical value | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Grove | $2,688 | +2.0% | $624,643 | 5.2% |
| Folsom | $2,667 | +4.5% | $754,898 | 4.2% |
| Roseville | $2,521 | +1.3% | $643,854 | 4.7% |
| Rancho Cordova | $2,412 | +2.2% | $528,888 | 5.5% |
| West Sacramento | $2,263 | +3.4% | $520,898 | 5.2% |
| Orangevale | $2,220 | +7.4% | $552,249 | 4.8% |
| Fair Oaks | $2,089 | +4.5% | $611,545 | 4.1% |
| Sacramento | $2,045 | +1.2% | $470,552 | 5.2% |
| Citrus Heights | $1,883 | +1.5% | $468,847 | 4.8% |
| Carmichael | $1,757 | +0.5% | $549,825 | 3.8% |
Zillow Home Value Index (typical home value, all home types) and Zillow Observed Rent Index (typical asking rent, all rental types including apartments), September 2026. Gross yield is a year of typical rent divided by the typical value: a market signal, not any one house's return.
Sacramento rent growth against home values over five years
In the five years to September 2026, Sacramento's typical asking rent rose 14.6% while the typical home value rose 2.1%. The value is still about 9% below its July 2022 high of $516,899. If you bought a rental for appreciation in the last five years, almost all of what it paid you came through the rent.
What faster rent growth means for a Sacramento landlord
When rent climbs and value stands still, the yield on the house goes up. That's the good news for an owner who keeps. The catch: the pace has slowed. Rent rose 1.2% in the past 12 months, well under the roughly 2.8% a year that 14.6% over five years works out to. Your costs (insurance, repairs, property tax) don't have to slow down with it.
Rent growth across the Sacramento suburbs in the past year
Orangevale led the past year at +7.4%, with Folsom and Fair Oaks at +4.5% and West Sacramento at +3.4%. Rancho Cordova (+2.2%), Elk Grove (+2.0%), Citrus Heights (+1.5%) and Roseville (+1.3%) sat in the middle. Sacramento itself (+1.2%) and Carmichael (+0.5%) were slowest.
A single year in a smaller suburb can swing on a handful of listings, so don't read a trend into one number. Look at the chart above for the longer line.
Where Sacramento rent buys the most house: gross yields
Gross yield is a year of typical rent divided by the typical value. It's the quickest way to compare places, and the table above lists it for each city.
Highest gross yields: Rancho Cordova, Sacramento and West Sacramento
Rancho Cordova tops the list at 5.47%, followed by Sacramento and West Sacramento at 5.21% and Elk Grove at 5.16%. In these places rent is high relative to price, so a rental there earns more of its keep each month.
Lowest rent-to-value: Carmichael, Fair Oaks and Folsom
Carmichael has the lowest gross yield at 3.83%, then Fair Oaks at 4.1% and Folsom at 4.24%. Values there are higher than rents can keep up with. An owner in those suburbs is holding more equity per dollar of rent, which makes the case for selling and putting that equity to work somewhere else stronger.
Why a gross rent yield isn't your house's return
Gross means before property tax, insurance, repairs, vacancy, management and the mortgage. A year of Sacramento's typical rent is $24,540; one empty month takes about 8% of that. A manager's monthly fee takes more (see what property managers charge in Sacramento). Once those come out, a 5.2% gross yield can be a 2% or 3% net one, and with a recent mortgage it can be negative.
Compare that with borrowing: Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.4% in the week of October 15, 2026. A buyer financing a rental at 7.4% to earn 5.2% before costs starts behind, which is why investors price houses carefully on the rent.
What Zillow's rent index measures, and its limits for a rental house
The figures on this page come from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). Knowing what it counts tells you how far to trust it for your own house.
Zillow's rent index includes apartments
ZORI tracks typical asking rents across all rental types: single-family houses, condos and apartment buildings. It's smoothed, and it's built from listings, so it shows what landlords ask for new tenancies. It doesn't show what sitting tenants pay, and it doesn't split rents by bedroom count.
Why a single-family rent can differ from the Sacramento average
A three- or four-bedroom house with a yard and a garage often rents above a citywide figure that includes one-bedroom apartments. The mix also differs by place: a suburb with more apartment buildings can show a lower typical rent than its houses earn. Two more gaps matter. A tenant who has been in place for years may pay well under today's asking rent. And a house that needs work won't get the asking rent of a renovated one next door.
How to price the rent on your own Sacramento rental
Use the city figures for direction and your street for the number. Three things set what your house will rent for.
Rent comparables for your house
- Find houses (not apartments) with the same bedrooms and bathrooms, of similar size, within about a mile.
- Use ones listed or leased in the last two to three months; older ones miss seasonal shifts.
- Note how long each sat. A listing still up after six weeks is asking too much.
- Check whether the comparable includes a garage, yard care or utilities, and adjust for what yours does.
Condition and features that move the rent
Updated kitchens and baths, central air, a garage, in-unit laundry and a fenced yard all add to what a house rents for. Deferred repairs pull it down and lengthen the vacancy. If your house needs $20,000 of work to reach the market rent, that's money to weigh against selling it as it is.
AB 1482's cap on rent increases for an existing tenant
For a covered house, Civil Code 1947.12 limits increases over any 12-month period to 5% plus the change in the regional cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower. A single-family house is exempt only if it isn't owned by a REIT, a corporation or an LLC with a corporate member, and the tenant has been given the written exemption notice the statute spells out. As written, the section is repealed on January 1, 2030. How much you can raise it this year, and the notice, is on the rent increase limits guide. The AB 1482 guide for Sacramento owners covers the exemption, and the city's own program is on the Sacramento rental rules page.
What it means in practice: a tenant paying $1,800 in a covered house that would list at $2,100 can't be brought to market in one step. If the cost-of-living change were 3%, this year's cap would be 8%, or $1,944.
What Sacramento rents mean if you're selling a rental
Investors price a rented house on its rent
A buyer who takes over your tenant is buying the lease. A rent close to market with an on-time payment record supports the price. A rent well below market, held down by the AB 1482 cap, lowers what an investor will pay, because they can only close the gap slowly. Selling a rental with the tenant in place covers how those buyers judge a lease.
When the rent no longer justifies keeping the house
Take your actual rent, subtract every cost, and compare the result with the equity you'd free up by selling. If the net rent is a small return on that equity, or negative, flat values give you nothing to wait for. Run your numbers through the rent vs sell calculator, then read the keep-or-sell checklist.
Selling a rental vacant and the rent you give up
Selling vacant reaches buyers who want to live in the house, but each empty month costs you a month of rent: about $2,045 at Sacramento's typical figure. Count that, plus any move-out payment, against the price difference. Justin prices a house both ways, rented and vacant, so you can see the gap before you decide on selling your Sacramento rental.
Average rent in Sacramento: questions owners ask
How much is rent in Sacramento?
Zillow's typical asking rent for the city of Sacramento was $2,045 a month in September 2026, up 1.2% in a year and 14.6% in five years. Among nearby suburbs, Elk Grove ($2,688), Folsom ($2,667) and Roseville ($2,521) ran higher, while Citrus Heights ($1,883) and Carmichael ($1,757) ran lower. The index includes apartments, so a single-family house often rents for a different figure than the city typical.
Is Sacramento expensive to rent?
Compared with its own suburbs, the city is toward the cheaper end: Sacramento's typical asking rent of $2,045 a month is below Elk Grove, Folsom, Roseville, Rancho Cordova, West Sacramento, Orangevale and Fair Oaks, and above only Citrus Heights and Carmichael (Zillow, September 2026). Rent has risen faster than home values, up 14.6% in five years against 2.1% for the typical value, so renting has become pricier relative to the house itself.
What's the cheapest rent in the Sacramento area?
Of the cities and suburbs Zillow tracks here, Carmichael had the lowest typical asking rent in September 2026 at $1,757 a month, then Citrus Heights at $1,883. Those figures mix apartments with houses, so a low typical rent can reflect more small units in the area rather than cheap houses. A rental house in either suburb may rent above the typical figure.
Are rents going up in Sacramento?
Slowly. Sacramento's typical asking rent rose 1.2% in the 12 months to September 2026, compared with about 2.8% a year on average over the last five years. Some suburbs moved faster in the past year, led by Orangevale at 7.4% and Folsom and Fair Oaks at 4.5%. One year in a small suburb can swing on a few listings, so look at the longer trend before pricing your own rent.
How much can I raise the rent on my Sacramento rental?
If the house is covered by AB 1482, Civil Code 1947.12 caps increases over any 12 months at 5% plus the regional cost-of-living change, or 10%, whichever is lower. A single-family house can be exempt when its owner isn't a REIT, a corporation or an LLC with a corporate member, but only with the written exemption notice given to the tenant. A house inside Sacramento city limits may also fall under the city's Tenant Protection Program. Check both before you send a notice.
What is a good rental yield in Sacramento?
Gross yields in the Sacramento area ran from 3.83% in Carmichael to 5.47% in Rancho Cordova in September 2026, with the city at 5.21%. Those are before costs. Once property tax, insurance, repairs, vacancy and any management fee come out, the net return is lower. Whether yours is good depends on what the equity would earn elsewhere and on your mortgage.
Does Zillow's rent index cover only houses?
No. The Zillow Observed Rent Index measures typical asking rents across all rental types, including apartments and condos as well as single-family houses. It's smoothed and based on listings, so it reflects new asking rents rather than what current tenants pay. Use it for the direction of the market and use nearby house rentals for your own rent.
Sources
Reviewed by Justin Vierra
Justin reviewed this page for accuracy on October 28, 2026. Figures come from the sources listed above. Our research process.
Justin Vierra is a Sacramento Realtor® with GUIDE Real Estate and Principal of the Vierra Group who sells rental homes for their owners, with tenants in place or vacant. He spent six years in Midtown property management before he began selling homes in 2010.
- Since 2010Licensed in California, DRE #01880488
- 6 yearsManaging Midtown rental property before he sold homes
- 447Vierra Group team sales on Zillow, 26 in the past 12 months
- 440+Career sales, as reported by Justin
- Six years in property management: Midtown Sacramento: older buildings, multifamily property, maintenance and tenants
- Principal, Vierra Group: His team at GUIDE Real Estate, 3001 I Street, Sacramento
- Sacramento Real Producers: Top 250 agent for 2025, as reported by Justin
Realtor®, DRE #01880488. Vierra Group, GUIDE Real Estate, 3001 I St, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95816. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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