The average new apartment in San Diego has shrunk to just 827 square feet, down from 911 square feet a decade ago, even as the typical monthly rent has climbed to $3,038. That combination of smaller floor plans and steeper price tags puts San Diego at odds with a national market where apartments have actually grown slightly larger since 2016.
According to a Axios analysis of a RentCafe survey of 100 U.S. cities, San Diego’s new apartment size dropped 9% over the last decade, while nationwide the average new unit actually grew by 13 square feet, to 910 square feet, over the same period. The RentCafe data, sourced from Yardi Matrix, found average new-apartment size across the 100 cities examined grew a little over 1% between 2016 and 2025, meaning San Diego’s shrinkage bucks the broader national trend. For comparison, Seattle’s average new apartment measures just 645 square feet, while Tallahassee, Florida sits at the opposite extreme with units averaging 1,156 square feet.
Meanwhile, the average San Diego apartment rent rose from $1,781 in 2016 to $3,038 this year, an increase of roughly 70% according to Zillow figures cited in the same Axios report. That means renters are paying dramatically more for measurably less space than they were a decade ago.
Smaller Floor Plans, Higher Per-Square-Foot Returns
The financial logic behind San Diego’s shrinking floor plans traces back to the high cost of building in the region. Local real estate analysts at London Moeder Advisors, cited in a report from Watkins Realty Group, found that steep labor, land, and material expenses in California push apartment developers toward compact studio and one-bedroom units, since smaller floor plans generate a higher rent-per-square-foot return than larger ones. State Housing Element mandates that prioritize total unit counts over unit square footage only reinforce that incentive, encouraging developers to squeeze floor plans to protect project margins, the Watkins Realty Group report noted…