Orange County remains the toughest market in Southern California to find rental housing.
My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the local slice of RentCafe’s mid-year study of the most competitive places to find an apartment at larger complexes. The report tracking second-quarter data for 66 big U.S. apartment markets included six in Southern California.
Orange County had the region’s highest competitiveness score, as calculated by RentCafe. It was also No. 1 at mid-year 2024. Among those 66 U.S. markets, Orange County was the 25th most competitive in the second quarter of 2025.
Orange County renters are loyal, meaning 62% of them renewed their leases in the second quarter – the region’s highest rate. Nationally, 63% renewed.
That low turnover helped keep vacancies tight, at 5% of supply. The U.S. vacancy rate ran at 7%.
Empty Orange County units sat vacant for 43 days – three days longer than the nation’s norm. And Orange County vacancies got an average of 12 views from prospective tenants vs. nine nationwide.
And it was no help to apartment seekers that zero apartments were added to Orange County’s supply in the quarter. Nationally, 84 new units were constructed for every 10,000 of existing inventory.
Easy Street
Compare those patterns with Southern California’s “easiest” place to find an apartment: western Los Angeles County. It was also the easiest market a year ago. Nationally, it was the third-least competitive of the 66 markets tracked.
Only 44% of Western L.A. tenants renewed – the region’s lowest loyalty. This high turnover is a likely explanation for Western L.A.’s 8% vacancy rate – the region’s highest.
Empty units sat vacant for 44 days and got just nine looks – the region’s lowest. Additionally, apartment seekers were aided by 73 new units for every 10,000 existing ones, marking the highest construction pace in Southern California.
Elsewhere
Now ponder the other four markets, ranked hardest to easiest …
San Diego County: 55% renew in a market with 5% vacancies that sit empty for 39 days – the region’s lowest – while receiving 13 looks. Construction added 68 units per 10,000 existing apartments. Ranked No. 27 nationally.
Eastern Los Angeles County: 50% renew in a market with 4% vacancies – the region’s lowest – that sit empty for 42 days while receiving 15 looks – the region’s highest. Construction added 65 units per 10,000. Ranked No. 35 nationally.
North LA/Ventura County: 54% renew in a market with 5% vacancies that sit empty for 44 days while receiving 12 looks. Construction added 33 units per 10,000. Ranked No. 42 nationally.
Inland Empire: 54% renew in a market with 5% vacancies that sit empty for 45 days – the region’s highest – while receiving 13 looks. Construction added 64 units per 10,000. Ranked No. 48 nationally.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com