California beach enclave revealed as most expensive rental market in US

The most expensive place to rent a home isn’t New York, Miami or even San Francisco — it’s a sleepy California beach enclave better known for tasty waves than glamour, according to a new report.Santa Cruz, the seaside community roughly 90 minutes south of San Francisco, has been crowned the most expensive place to rent in the United States by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

California is #1 in rental costs, with renters needing to earn $52.79 per hour to afford a typical 2-bedroom home costing $2,745 per month, according to the nonprofit’s newest report, entitled “Out of Reach.”Costs are even more dramatic in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville area, where a wage of $81.04 per hour is needed to rent a two-bedroom, according to the study.The greater Santa Cruz area encompasses Capitola and a collection of coastal and farm communities.

Santa Cruz itself is home to University of California Santa Cruz and a persistent housing crisis, with students and other residents reporting an extremely tight rental market.Of the 10 most expensive metro areas in America, eight are in California, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

They are grouped by HUD Metro Fair Market Rent Area, a federal designation used to track housing costs.Rounding out the top six places are: San Francisco and Marin; Santa Clara County; the Napa wine country region; Orange County; Santa Barbara and San Diego County.

The Oakland-Fremont area is #8, with Boston and New York sitting at #7 and #10 respectively.The Golden State has nearly 6 million households that rent, or roughly 44% of its 13.5 million total households....