Apartments in Downtown Berkeley

Berkeley:
May Rent Report

Welcome to the May 2026 Berkeley Apartment Report. In this assessment of the local rental market, Rentable data scientists and rental experts break down the May 2026 key findings and figures for the Berkeley rental landscape.

Our experts analyze the pricing trends — one-bedroom, two-bedroom, year-over-year and month-over-month — in Berkeley and surrounding areas and provide comparisons to the entire metro area, nearby cities and some of the most desirable and expensive cities in the United States. Take a look at the last 12 months of Berkeley average rent prices in the chart below.

May Prices: Berkeley vs. Surrounding Areas

Rent Prices in Berkeley and Surrounding Areas

Rent prices have decreased in Berkeley over the last month. But how have the surrounding areas fared when it comes to the recent volatility in apartment prices? Rent prices in 4 of the Berkeley suburbs increased last month. On the other hand, 3 local areas experienced a decrease in the price of a one-bedroom apartment.

More key findings include:

• Rent increased in San Francisco, CA, San Mateo, CA, San Ramon, CA, Hayward, CA .

• Rent decreased in Oakland, CA, Alameda, CA, Walnut Creek, CA.

Data set for Berkeley and suburbs

Methodology

Each month, using over 1 million Rentable listings across the United States, we calculate the median 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom rent prices by city, state, and nation, and track the month-over-month percent change. To avoid small sample sizes, we restrict the analysis for our reports to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds.