San Diego’s rent cap fell to 8.2%, but landlords can still raise rent by $249 a month

San Diego County's cap on annual rent increases dropped from 8.8% to 8.2% on August 1, and renters there can still be asked for more money than renters in Los Angeles. A typical San Diego rent runs about $3,038 a month, so 8.2% comes to $249. Los Angeles allows 8.7%, but its typical rent is $2,773, which works out to $241.

The lower percentage permits the larger check, simply because San Diego rents sit higher to begin with, and both numbers come out of the same law. California's AB 1482 caps annual increases at 5% plus regional inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, and each metro gets its own figure recalculated every year.

San Diego's inflation cooled enough to pull its cap down, while Los Angeles and Orange counties went the other way, rising from 8.0% to 8.7%, so the same formula sent two neighboring metros in opposite directions.

The cap covers housing more than 15 years old, single-family homes and condominiums owned by corporations, mobile homes rented from park management, and housing rented through Section 8, while newer buildings are generally exempt. Coverage turns on the type of property and who owns it, so the notice you get isn't automatically legal just because a cap exists.

Renters quoted by NBC 7 San Diego didn't sound reassured. "I support the rent cap. I'm glad that it's being lowered from 8.8 to 8.2. But it should be even lower. It should be like 5," said Jordan Daniels, who rents in University Heights and previously paid $3,500 for a comparable two-bedroom in Hillcrest before moving to a similar unit for under $3,000. Daniels added that "I think 8% is still a high number."

Juan Carlos Sandoval Rodriguez, who rents a studio in Bankers Hill, described what keeping up takes. "I need to have two jobs. I work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. so I'm able to pay my rent and still have a semblance of a life," he said. Asked about the cap, his answer was "I don't think that's fair."

The gap between the cap and the market is smaller here

This is where San Diego differs from Los Angeles in a way that matters, because rents across the 24 San Diego County cities we track rose about 4.0% over the past year, putting the 8.2% ceiling at roughly double the actual market rate. In LA County the cap runs about six times local rent growth, which makes it mostly symbolic for renters there.

A cap at twice the market rate is close enough to bind during a warm year, and San Diego is having one, with city rent up 6.6% over the past year while San Marcos matched that pace and Carlsbad rose 5.0%.

Escondido and El Cajon are the two where rents actually fell over the past year, yet a landlord in either could still legally ask for about $205 or $187 more a month, and they're also the two cheapest cities on the list, which is the pattern we keep running into where the affordable end absorbs the pressure.

Tyler Renner tied it to something the percentages don't capture. "A lot of seniors are getting priced out of this neighborhood. A lot of young people, a lot of renters, a lot of people who work in the service industry," Renner said, adding that increases for anyone on a fixed income "mean that people are going to fall into homelessness."

Legal Aid Society of San Diego reminds renters that landlords generally must give 30 days' written notice for increases under 10%, and 90 days' notice for increases above 10% compared with the previous year, and the organization offers free help for tenants unsure whether an increase is legal. Check the notice against the cap for your property type before you agree to anything, since an 8.2% ask on a $3,038 rent is $2,988 over a year.

Sources

• NBC 7 San Diego, "San Diego County's new 'rent cap' takes effect, limiting increases to 8.2%"

• California Legislature, AB 1482 (Tenant Protection Act of 2019)

• Legal Aid Society of San Diego, tenant rights assistance

• RentDataNow San Diego County rent data (Zillow Observed Rent Index, June 2026)