Renting in Santa Cruz, California now requires a stifling income of more than $168,000 just to rent a two-bedroom, a figure that makes it the most unaffordable market in the nation for the third year in a row.
In the Santa Cruz area, located on the Central Coast about 75 miles south of San Francisco, the hourly pay needed to afford a modest two-bedroom has risen from $63.33 in 2023 to $81.21 in 2025, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s 2025 Out of Reach report…