Statistics
ADU rental income statistics
25 of 51 figures are HyreADU calculations. HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rent and ACS 2019–2023 5-year median gross rent, with Terner’s family-occupancy share applied so a yield figure does not assume every ADU is let at market.
Written by HyreADU Research Desk Primary-source research and data analysis
How to use this page
Fair Market Rent is a 40th-percentile policy construct HUD publishes so public-housing agencies can set voucher payment standards. It is not a survey of ADU leases.
The ACS 2019–2023 5-year median is the 50th percentile of cash rent among renter-occupied units of that bedroom count — every renter, not ADUs.
The rental-income study refuses to treat ACS as ADU rent; this digest prints it beside FMR so the two federal series stay labeled.
Chapple, Ganetsos and Lopez (Center for Community Innovation, 22 April 2021, Terner-reviewed) found 51 percent of new California ADUs generating rental income and 16 percent housing a relative at no cost.
A spreadsheet that multiplies FMR by twelve and calls the result “ADU income” is wrong for that 16 percent, and unearned for the rest until a lease exists.
25 of 51 figures on this page are HyreADU calculations (25 hyreadu calculation, 20 agency published, 6 trade / survey estimate). Every calculation links to the study. Look up your area’s FMR yourself.
Read the provenance, not just the number
Almost every “ADU rent statistics” page on the web is a chain of citation that terminates in a builder brochure. This digest’s spine is provenance, not volume. Every figure below is one of three things:
HyreADU calculation — we took HUD’s published FMR and computed a 12-month product, an occupancy haircut, or a ratio to ACS. The method lives on the rental-income study.
Agency published — HUD or the Census printed this number.
We cite the table, not an article about the table.
Trade / survey estimate — Chapple, Ganetsos and Lopez (CCI, 22 April 2021), Terner-reviewed. A survey of 2018–19 California ADU owners, never a 2026 census.
HUD FY 2026 FMRs took effect 1 October 2025. Los Angeles uses the 21 May 2026 revision from an August 2025 local survey. HUD names the 2019–2023 ACS 5-year as the FY 2026 base.
We use that same ACS vintage for B25031 so the two series cannot disagree on the year. FY 2027 FMRs were posted 1 September 2026 and take effect 1 October 2026; they are not this page.
FMR is gross rent (shelter plus essential utilities) at the 40th percentile of standard-quality units in the FMR area (24 CFR 888.113). ACS B25031 is the 50th percentile among renter-occupied units paying cash rent. Different percentile, different universe, different year-shape. Neither is observed ADU rent. A ratio of the two is a HyreADU calculation.
The figures most worth knowing
Full method on the rental-income study. FMR is not a lease.
FY 2026 FMR for ADU-like sizes
Terner/CCI’s 2021 owner survey found 61 percent of new California ADUs were one-bedroom and 18 percent were studios. The efficiency, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom columns are the ADU-like sizes. These dollars are HUD’s. They are a voucher payment-standard construct, not observed ADU rents. The four metros are the four the rental-income study tabulated.
| HUD Metro FMR Area | Efficiency (0 BR) | 1 BR | 2 BR | Geography | Date | Class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale | $2,079 | $2,328 | $2,903 | Los Angeles County | FY 2026 | Agency published | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 |
| San Francisco | $2,485 | $2,977 | $3,604 | San Francisco County; San Mateo County | FY 2026 | Agency published | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | $2,621 | $2,982 | $3,483 | Santa Clara County | FY 2026 | Agency published | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 |
| Sacramento | $1,748 | $1,832 | $2,255 | El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento Counties | FY 2026 | Agency published | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 |
HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rent, retrieved 2026-09-05. Los Angeles uses the 21 May 2026 revision. San José and Sacramento voucher programs use Small Area FMRs by ZIP; metro-level figures here are what HUD publishes for other programs. 12 agency-published FMR dollars in 4 rows; each counts in the 25-of-51 split.
A metro-wide figure can mislead on a given block. The rent estimator will not invent yours.
FMR against ACS median gross rent
ACS 2019–2023 5-year median gross rent (B25031) is the 50th percentile of cash renters in that county. FY 2026 FMR is the 40th percentile of standard-quality units, recent-mover-adjusted and trended forward.
The study does not treat ACS as ADU rent. This digest prints B25031 beside FMR so the two federal series can be compared without collapsing them. The ratio is a HyreADU calculation.
| County | ACS 1 BR median | FY 2026 1 BR FMR | FMR ÷ ACS | Date | Class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | $1,661 | $2,328 | 1.40× | FY 2026 / 2019–2023 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR ÷ ACS 2019–2023 B25031 · rental-income study |
| San Francisco County | $2,425 | $2,977 | 1.23× | FY 2026 / 2019–2023 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR ÷ ACS 2019–2023 B25031 · rental-income study |
| Santa Clara County | $2,479 | $2,982 | 1.20× | FY 2026 / 2019–2023 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR ÷ ACS 2019–2023 B25031 · rental-income study |
| Sacramento County | $1,398 | $1,832 | 1.31× | FY 2026 / 2019–2023 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR ÷ ACS 2019–2023 B25031 · rental-income study |
ACS 1-bedroom medians are agency-published (B25031, 2019–2023 5-year). The FMR dollars are agency-published. The ratio is ours. California ACS medians: no-bedroom $1,531, 1-bedroom $1,709, 2-bedroom $2,014.
San Francisco County’s ACS no-bedroom median is $1,560 against an efficiency FMR of $2,485 (1.59×). ACS 0-bedroom includes SRO stock FMR’s standard-quality screen is built to exclude. That gap is a definition clash, not an ADU rent.
The occupancy haircut
Terner/CCI’s 2021 survey found 51 percent of new units serving as income-generating rentals and 16 percent providing no-cost housing to a relative. Short-term rental was 8 percent.
Those three shares are Terner’s and do not sum to 100 percent. HyreADU’s yield haircut is the same arithmetic the study publishes: round(monthly FMR × 0.51) × 12. It is a portfolio expected-value correction for a randomly selected unit from that cohort — not a vacancy rate, and not the haircut for an owner who has already decided to let at market.
| FMR area | 1 BR FMR | Unadjusted annual | × 0.51 occupancy | Haircut (not collected) | Class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale | $2,328 | $27,936 | $14,244 | $13,692 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 1-BR FMR × 0.51 (Terner/CCI), then × 12 · rental-income study |
| San Francisco | $2,977 | $35,724 | $18,216 | $17,508 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 1-BR FMR × 0.51 (Terner/CCI), then × 12 · rental-income study |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | $2,982 | $35,784 | $18,252 | $17,532 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 1-BR FMR × 0.51 (Terner/CCI), then × 12 · rental-income study |
| Sacramento | $1,832 | $21,984 | $11,208 | $10,776 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 1-BR FMR × 0.51 (Terner/CCI), then × 12 · rental-income study |
Occupancy-adjusted annual = round(FY 2026 1-bedroom FMR × 0.51) × 12. The 51 percent is Terner/CCI’s, cited as Terner. The dollars are ours, and they match the rental-income study. Los Angeles 1-bedroom: unadjusted $27,936, after haircut $14,244, difference $13,692. Same recipe on Los Angeles efficiency: $12,720.
An owner who will actually rent should not apply 0.51 to their own unit. Type a monthly figure you can defend into the rent estimator. Family occupancy is a $0 rent, not a failed investment; the ROI calculator already accepts $0.
What a statewide average would hide
| Statistic | Figure | Geography | Date | Class | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles 1-bedroom FMR, original FY 2026 notice | $2,085 | Los Angeles County | FY 2026 original | Agency published | HUD FY 2026 FMR notice (90 FR 41096), before 21 May 2026 revision |
| San Francisco 1-bedroom FMR ÷ Sacramento | 1.63× | San Francisco HMFA / Sacramento HMFA | FY 2026 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 · rental-income study |
| San José 1-bedroom FMR ÷ Sacramento | 1.63× | San José HMFA / Sacramento HMFA | FY 2026 | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 · rental-income study |
| Los Angeles 1-bedroom FMR, May 2026 revision vs original notice | 12% above original ($243) | Los Angeles County | May 2026 revision | HyreADU calculation | HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation, 2026-09-05 · rental-income study |
The study did not average FMR across California, and neither does this digest. Among the four metros, San José’s 1-bedroom FMR is 1.63× Sacramento’s. A statewide “average ADU rent” would hide that span.
Figures we will not repeat
- An unsourced “average ADU rent” for California, or for the United States
Terner/CCI published a $2,000 median among 2018–19 owners who let — not a 2026 lease table, and not FMR. HUD’s 1-bedroom FMR already spans $1,832 (Sacramento) to $2,982 (San José) among the four metros on this page. Averaging those markets is how a brochure gets a round number. We will not publish one.
- FMR as observed ADU rent
Fair Market Rent is the 40th percentile of standard-quality gross rent, used to set voucher payment standards. New ADUs can lease above or below that percentile. Treating FMR as “what ADUs rent for” is a category error. The dollar is useful. The label has to stay on it.
- ACS median gross rent as ADU rent
B25031 is every cash renter in the county, every structure, every vintage of stock. The study refused to fold it in as ADU rent. This digest prints it only as a labeled federal median. The ratio to FMR is ours; the claim that it is backyard-unit rent is not.
- A yield that assumes every ADU is let at market
Chapple, Ganetsos and Lopez found 51 percent of new units generating rental income and 16 percent housing a relative rent-free.
Capitalising a market rent the owner will not collect is the error the appraisal page also refuses. The haircut here is labeled as a HyreADU calculation using Terner’s occupancy share. It is not a forecast for a named lot.
Citing these figures
Journalists and planning desks are welcome to cite these tables. Link the rental-income study, not this digest: the method and the limits live there.
Where a figure is labeled HyreADU calculation, attribute it to HyreADU and name the file — “HyreADU analysis of HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rents, with Terner/CCI 2021 occupancy applied.” Where it is Agency published, cite HUD or the Census; we are repeating it.
Where it is Trade / survey estimate, cite Chapple, Ganetsos and Lopez 2021. Corrections go on the page with a dated note: hello@hyreadu.com.
Questions
What is HUD Fair Market Rent, and is it what an ADU will rent for?
Which HUD year and which ACS vintage does this page use?
Why 0-, 1- and 2-bedroom, and not 3-bedroom?
How many California ADUs are actually rented at market?
What is the occupancy-adjusted annual figure?
Is there a statewide average ADU rent?
How should I look up a rent for a specific lot?
Written and audited by
HyreADU Research Desk
Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
We are a research desk, not a builder. We read the permit extract, the statute, the HCD return or the fee schedule ourselves, and publish each figure with its source and retrieval date.
Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we leave it out and say what we could not verify. Our store-based claims cover California only.
- CA
- the only state this desk will make store-based claims about
- 5
- jurisdictions with extracted ADU permit evidence
- 735
- CSLB-verified companies in the California store
- 0
- national claims from a one-state store
How this desk works
- Primary sources only. Permit counts come from the city or county that issued the permit. Production counts come from HCD’s Annual Progress Report. Rents come from HUD or the Census. We do not cite an article that cites a source; we download the source and compute the figure ourselves.
- This is a California site. The company store is 734 California firms and one New Mexico firm. Permit evidence exists for five named jurisdictions: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San José and unincorporated Marin. A number from that store is titled to those places, never to the United States.
- A permit is not a completion, and a license is not an ADU grade. California licenses no ADU classification. Being named on an ADU permit is evidence of engagement in that jurisdiction, not of quality, completion, or work anywhere else. Owner-builder permits are excluded from contractor counts.
- Calculation is labeled as calculation. Figures we derive are never presented as something HCD, HUD, the Census or a city published. Terner Center research is cited as Terner’s, never restated as ours.
- We do not design, permit or build ADUs, and we take no payment for placement, ranking or a favorable mention. Pages that look like rankings are not: they publish public-record counts and let the reader decide.
- Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice. Zoning, underwriting and appraisal practice vary by jurisdiction, lender and appraiser. The useful next step on a specific lot is the planning counter and a licensed professional.
Data as of HUD FY 2026 FMR documentation retrieved 2026-09-05; ACS 2019–2023 5-year B25031 retrieved 2026-09-05; CCI owner survey 22 April 2021. Authorship on this site is organizational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold.
Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.
Sources & retrieval dates
- HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rent Documentation System , Los Angeles, San Francisco, San José and Sacramento metro FMRs. Los Angeles uses the 21 May 2026 revision (local survey, August 2025). Retrieved 2026-09-05.
- HUD — Calculation of HUD Fair Market Rents, FY 2026 , Public methodology. Base rent from 2019–2023 ACS 5-year 2-bedroom adjusted standard-quality gross rent, recent-mover adjustment, inflation, trend to FY 2026 midpoint. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
- Federal Register, 91 FR 21301 (21 April 2026) , Revised FY 2026 FMRs for seven areas, effective 21 May 2026. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale: $2,079 / $2,328 / $2,903. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25031 , Median gross rent by bedrooms. Universe: renter-occupied housing units paying cash rent. Printed as all-renter median, not as ADU rent. Summary file acsdt5y2023-b25031.dat. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
- Chapple, Ganetsos and Lopez, Implementing the Backyard Revolution: Perspectives of California's ADU Owners, UC Berkeley Center for Community Innovation, 22 April 2021 , 51% income-generating; 16% rent-free relative; 8% short-term rental; 61% one-bedroom; 18% studio; median let rent $2,000 statewide. Occupancy figures are cited as Terner/CCI, never as HyreADU’s. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
- Terner Center blog on the CCI ADU owner survey , Same survey, Terner’s write-up. Retrieved 2026-09-05.
A statistic is not a rent roll
Fair Market Rent is a policy construct. What a specific ADU lets for is a street, a finish level and a lease. Look the FMR up. Type it. We will not invent your area’s number.
HyreADU does not design, permit or build accessory dwelling units, and does not let property. Statistics are informational. They are not legal, tax, financial or construction advice, and they are not a guarantee of rent, occupancy or return.
Fair Market Rent is a HUD policy construct, not observed ADU rent. ACS median gross rent is a Census estimate for all cash renters, not for accessory dwellings. Terner/CCI occupancy figures are cited as theirs.
The occupancy haircut is a HyreADU calculation using that survey share; it is not a forecast for a named lot. FY 2027 FMRs take effect 1 October 2026 and are not this page.