The beach-town rent premium is cracking in Florida but surging on the Jersey Shore
Renting near the ocean has always cost extra. What's changed is that the premium no longer moves in one direction. Rent on Florida's Gulf coast is slipping, with Cape Coral down 4.5% over the past year, while Asbury Park on the Jersey Shore jumped 19.4%.
California: a league of its own
The most expensive beach towns are all in California, and they barely flinched this year. Santa Cruz tops the list at $3,649 a month, up 8.4%. Santa Monica sits at $3,517 and Huntington Beach at $3,078. These are places where strict building limits meet permanent demand, and the result is rent that would be a mortgage almost anywhere else.
Florida's Gulf coast is cooling
Florida is the other story. After years of pandemic-era surges, the Gulf coast is giving some back. Cape Coral fell 4.5%, Clearwater 1.5%, and Naples 0.7%. Rising insurance costs and a rush of new construction after the hurricanes of recent years have loosened a market that used to only go up.
Beach town | Typical rent | Year-over-year |
|---|---|---|
Santa Cruz, CA | $3,649 | +8.4% |
Santa Monica, CA | $3,517 | -0.1% |
Huntington Beach, CA | $3,078 | +2.1% |
Asbury Park, NJ | $2,872 | +19.4% |
Naples, FL | $2,654 | -0.7% |
$2,065 | +9.6% | |
Cape Coral, FL | $1,912 | -4.5% |
$1,694 | +2.5% | |
$1,676 | -0.9% |
The Jersey Shore and mid-Atlantic are surging
The sharpest climbs are north of the Carolinas. Asbury Park's 19.4% jump is the biggest of any beach town we track, and Virginia Beach rose 9.6%. These are year-round towns, not just summer rentals, and remote work has made them viable as permanent addresses within reach of New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Demand that used to peak in July now runs all twelve months.
What it means if you want to live near the water
The affordable coast still exists, it just moved. Myrtle Beach at $1,676 and Galveston at $1,356 are the genuine bargains here, both flat or barely moving. If you're chasing a deal, the cooling Gulf coast is where to look, and the surging Jersey Shore is where to move fast or not at all. Check any coastal town on its RentDataNow city page before you commit.
Sources
RentDataNow rent data for the beach towns listed (Zillow Observed Rent Index, June 2025 and June 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most expensive beach town to rent in?
Santa Cruz, California, at about $3,649 a month, followed by Santa Monica at $3,517 and Huntington Beach at $3,078. The priciest beach towns are all in California, where building limits meet steady demand.
Are beach town rents going down?
In some regions. Florida's Gulf coast is cooling, with Cape Coral down 4.5% and Clearwater and Naples also falling, as insurance costs and new construction loosen the market. The Jersey Shore and mid-Atlantic are still rising.
Where is the cheapest place to rent near the beach?
Among the coastal towns tracked here, Galveston, Texas is the most affordable at about $1,356 a month, followed by Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at $1,676. Both were flat or slightly down over the past year.
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Jennifer Han is the editor in chief of RentDataNow, covering rent trends, housing costs, and more. She was a real-estate agent before she moved to writing about the market.
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