Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)
Santa Cruz County had the highest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly) of 58 counties in 2026, at $3,179. Modoc County had the lowest, at $774. The median was $1,262. Source: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.
Map of counties, 2026
- Under 1,000
- 1,000 to 1,100
- 1,100 to 1,300
- 1,300 to 1,700
- 1,700 to 2,200
- 2,200 and over
All counties, 2026
Full ranking
Other periods
About this ranking
Monthly gross rent, in US dollars, that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets for an efficiency (a unit with no separate bedroom) in the HUD area that contains the county.
More on how it is measured
- Gross rent is the rent plus all utilities paid by the tenant except telephone, cable or satellite television and internet.
- HUD sets Fair Market Rents at the 40th percentile of gross rents paid by recent movers for standard-quality rental units, from American Community Survey data brought forward to the fiscal year; until 2018 a few metropolitan areas were set at the 50th percentile.
- They set payment standards for Housing Choice Vouchers and rent ceilings in other HUD programs.
A policy benchmark, not a measured rent: it is lower than the median rent by design and differs from the Census Bureau median gross rent. HUD sets one value per HUD area, a metropolitan area (sometimes split into HUD Metro FMR Areas) or a non-metropolitan county, so every county of a metropolitan area shows the same figure. Counties in the six New England states have no value, because HUD defines their areas by town and a county can span several areas. Where HUD splits off part of a county, the county value is the rest of the county: Howard County, Maryland, without Columbia until FY2015, and Crawford County, Missouri, without its part of Sullivan. The year is HUD's federal fiscal year: FY2027 runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. (2026). HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars (Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx
MLA 9
HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, 21 Apr. 2026, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. 2026. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026.
Harvard
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research (2026) HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{department_counties_in_california_by_2026,
author = {{U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research}},
title = {{HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026. Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26\_FMRs\_revised.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
TI - HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2026
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/04/21
PB - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/california-counties?period=2026.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2026/FY26_FMRs_revised.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in California by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"fair_market_rent_0br","level":"province","within":"California","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=fair_market_rent_0br&level=province&within=California&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)?
Santa Cruz County, with $3,179 in 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.
Which county has the lowest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)?
Modoc County, with $774 in 2026.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-12.