Contra Costa County, CA Rent Prices by Neighborhood

Where Rents Stand Right Now

The median rent in Contra Costa County sits at $2,901 per month as of mid-2026. That figure is roughly flat on a year-over-year basis, consistent with the broader picture of a market that has come off its 2021–2023 peak but has not broken sharply lower.

Prices are softening, not collapsing. The median home sale price fell about 0.64% year-over-year through August 2025, days on market stretched from 22 to 28 days, and inventory rose nearly 33% year-over-year. Yet inventory still sits at just 1.54 months countywide against a balanced-market threshold of 4–6 months. That structural undersupply keeps vacancy low and prevents the kind of concession-heavy environment renters experienced in San Francisco proper during the pandemic.

The forces holding rents up are employment-side. Health Care and Social Assistance is the county's largest sector at 80,112 workers. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services adds another 72,459. Both are relatively recession-resilient and concentrate around Walnut Creek, Concord, and San Ramon, sustaining demand for mid-to-upper-tier rentals in central county. Separately, Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities payrolls in the county grew 6.9% between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, far ahead of the state's -0.1% contraction, driven by warehousing and logistics expansion in the eastern corridor. That growth supports workforce housing demand in Antioch, Pittsburg, and Oakley.

Rent by Sub-Market

The county spans from Richmond and Hercules on the Bay to Antioch and Oakley at the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Rent levels track that geography closely.

Western County (Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules) San Pablo carries a median listing price of about $550,000, which implies rent levels well below the county median. These are workforce housing markets serving logistics and port-adjacent employment. Richmond adds a layer of rent regulation: it is the only city in Contra Costa with a local rent control ordinance (the Fair Rent, Just Cause for Eviction and Homeowner Protection Ordinance, enacted 2016), which caps increases and restricts evictions beyond the statewide AB 1482 framework. Renters here have more protection; landlords face more constraints.

Central County (Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill) The central corridor commands the county's highest rents outside the premium Lamorinda towns. Anchor employers Kaiser Permanente and John Muir Medical Center (Concord and Walnut Creek locations) and the BART stations at Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Concord generate consistent leasing demand from healthcare workers and white-collar commuters. This is the sub-market where $2,901 as a county median reads closest to actual conditions.

Lamorinda (Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga) and Danville/Alamo These are ownership-dominated markets. Alamo's median listing price is about $2.6 million. Lafayette, Orinda, and Danville cluster just below that. Rentals here are scarce and expensive, with top-rated school districts driving competition. Wildfire exposure is also highest in this Diablo Range foothills corridor, with county-wide data showing about 84% of properties face wildfire risk over a 30-year horizon.

East County (Antioch, Pittsburg, Oakley, Brentwood) East County is the relative affordability pocket. Home prices run 30–40% below the county median. BART's eBART extension, a 10-mile line that opened in 2018 connecting Pittsburg Center and Antioch to the broader system, creates a transit-premium rental niche for commuters who cannot afford to live closer to Oakland or San Francisco. Rents here are lower in absolute terms, and the warehouse and logistics job growth in the corridor supports a growing blue-collar renter base.

Affordability: What $2,901 Actually Costs

The research brief does not provide a county-level median household income figure, so a precise 30% rule calculation is not possible here. What the data does show is this: at $2,901 per month, a renter needs household income of about $116,000 annually to keep rent at or below 30% of gross income. That is a high bar. California's statewide median household income sits well below that threshold, and even within a prosperous Bay Area county, a large share of renters are cost-burdened.

East County is the only sub-market where affordability closes at all. With prices and rents running 30–40% below the county median in Antioch and Pittsburg, a single professional or dual-income household at moderate wages can approach the 30% rule without leaving the county.

What Rents Look Like 12–24 Months Out

Several converging forces will shape rents through the end of 2026 and into 2027.

Supply stays tight. The January 2025 inventory reading of 1.54 months reflects chronic undersupply that does not reverse quickly. California's permitting and construction environment is slow, and the county's homeownership rate of 68% means fewer properties rotate into the rental pool than in more renter-heavy markets.

ADUs add incremental supply. California's updated ADU laws, including AB 2533 effective January 2025, simplified legalization of unpermitted ADUs built before 2020 and eased permitting across the board. As more homeowners add or legalize secondary units, the eastern and central county rental supply will grow modestly. This is a slow drip, not a flood.

Measure A compresses landlord margins, not rents directly. The 0.50% countywide tax increment passed in November 2024 raises effective property tax rates above the Proposition 13 baseline. Landlords absorb this as higher operating costs. Most will attempt to pass it through at the next lease renewal, consistent with AB 1482's statewide cap of 5% plus local CPI (maximum 10%) for covered units.

Logistics employment supports East County. If the 6.9% warehouse sector growth rate holds even partially, it sustains leasing demand in Antioch and Pittsburg at a time when those cities are the county's most accessible entry points.

The net outlook: rents hold roughly flat to modestly positive over the next 12–24 months, with East County slightly outperforming central county as affordability pressures push renters eastward.

If You're a Renter

1. Negotiate on days-on-market, not just price. Units now sit about 28 days before renting, up from 22 days a year ago. If a unit has been listed for three or more weeks, you have real room to request one month free, reduced move-in costs, or a rate below the asking rent.

2. Understand your protection tier before you sign. If you are renting in Richmond, you have local rent control coverage on top of state law. Everywhere else in the county, AB 1482's 5%-plus-CPI cap applies to most multi-family buildings built before 2005. Ask your landlord whether the unit is covered before signing a multi-year lease.

3. Price East County against your actual commute cost. Antioch and Pittsburg rents run well below the county median. With eBART connecting both cities to the BART system, a commuter to Oakland or San Francisco may save more on rent than the transit time costs. Run those numbers before ruling out East County on geography alone. And if you're weighing whether to rent or buy anywhere in the county, run your numbers through our Rent vs Buy calculator to see where the math lands for your situation.

If You're a Landlord

1. Price to the sub-market, not the county median. The $2,901 county median blends everything from Richmond to Alamo. A two-bedroom near the Walnut Creek BART station competes in a very different demand pool than a two-bedroom in Antioch. Pull comps within a one-mile radius and lean on BART proximity as a pricing anchor in central and East County.

2. Model Measure A into your hold-period math. The new 0.50% countywide assessment increment is real operating cost. On a $786,000 property, that is about $3,930 per year in additional tax. At the current gross yield of 4.42%, that increment alone erases a portion of your annual return. Underwrite at an effective rate of at least 1.25%–1.5% plus any Mello-Roos or special assessments.

3. Consider an ADU if you own SFR in East or Central County. ADUs under 750 square feet are exempt from impact fees under current California law. The 60-day permit review clock is mandated by state law. On an Antioch or Pittsburg SFR where the primary unit rents at a discount to the county median, a 600-square-foot ADU can add $1,200–$1,500 per month in gross rent and shift your effective yield from sub-5% to something more workable. AB 2533 also makes it easier to legalize an existing unpermitted unit if one is already on the lot.