How Much Can a Landlord Raise Rent in California in 2026?

How much can a landlord raise rent in California in 2026? If your home is covered by the statewide rent cap in Civil Code 1947.12 — the AB 1482 cap, as rewritten by SB 567 — the limit over any 12 months is 5% plus the change in your region’s Consumer Price Index, and never more than 10%. Your county and the date the increase takes effect decide the exact percentage. For who the law covers and how it works in general, start with the AB 1482 rent cap explainer.

California rent increase limits for 2026, by region

The Attorney General publishes the caps each year on its rent cap chart, and the July 17, 2026 update lists the ten figures below. Each cap is 5% plus the regional CPI change. The CPI numbers come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the four metro areas the statute names, and from the Department of Industrial Relations California CPI for everywhere else.

The biggest change is in the Bay Area. The San Francisco-area cap rose from 6.3% to 8.8% because the regional CPI change went from 1.3% to 3.8%. San Diego moved the other way, from 8.8% down to 8.2%. In every region the 5%-plus-CPI figure is below 10%, so the 10% ceiling does not come into play this year.

Want the dollar figure for your rent? Use the California rent increase calculator: pick your county, enter your lowest rent from the past 12 months and the date the increase takes effect, and it applies the right cap.

Which counties use which cap

The statute names the counties in each metro area itself, in 1947.12(g)(1)(A):

• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: Los Angeles and Orange counties.
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario: Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
• San Diego-Carlsbad: San Diego County.
• San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

Every other county uses the California CPI published by the Department of Industrial Relations, under 1947.12(g)(1)(B). That includes Santa Clara, Ventura, Sacramento and Fresno counties. Santa Clara County is in the Bay Area but is not on the statute’s San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward list, and Ventura County borders Los Angeles County but is not on the Los Angeles list. A San Jose or Oxnard tenant therefore uses the 8.6% statewide figure, not 8.8% or 8.7%.

The statute also says that if BLS starts publishing a CPI for a new California metro area, that index takes over from August 1 of the year its 12-month change is first published (1947.12(g)(1)(C)). No new area has been added, so the five-way split above is still the whole map.

Why the date the increase takes effect decides the percentage

The cap resets every August 1. Under 1947.12(g)(3)(B), an increase that takes effect on or after August 1 uses the April-to-April CPI change for that same calendar year. An increase that takes effect before August 1 uses the April-to-April change from the year before. So in Los Angeles, an increase effective July 1, 2026 was limited to 8.0%, while one effective August 1, 2026 can go up to 8.7%.

Where no April figure is published for an area, the statute switches to March-to-March. BLS publishes the San Diego and Riverside-San Bernardino indexes every other month in odd-numbered months, so those two areas have no April figure and use March. Los Angeles is published monthly and the San Francisco area in even-numbered months, so both use April, as does the DIR California index.

The CPI change is rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1% (1947.12(g)(3)(B)(iii)). In Los Angeles, the index went from 342.565 in April 2025 to 355.166 in April 2026, a rise of about 3.68%, which rounds to 3.7% and produces the 8.7% cap. The DIR California index went from 352.063 to 364.746, about 3.60%, which gives 3.6% and an 8.6% cap.

How to calculate your maximum rent increase

The cap is a percentage of the lowest gross rent charged at any time in the 12 months before the increase takes effect (1947.12(a)(1)). It is not a percentage of whatever you happen to be paying this month if your rent has already gone up once. The statute also says rent discounts, incentives, concessions or credits that you accepted are excluded when finding that lowest gross rent, and the lease must list the gross monthly rent and any concessions separately.

1. Find the lowest gross monthly rent charged in the 12 months before the new rent starts.
2. Look up your county’s cap for the date the increase takes effect.
3. Multiply, then add the result to the base rent. That total is the ceiling for all increases in the 12-month period combined.

Say your rent in Los Angeles has been $2,400 all year and the increase takes effect October 1, 2026. The cap is 8.7%. 8.7% of $2,400 is $208.80, so the most your new rent can be is $2,608.80. The same increase effective July 1, 2026 would have been held to 8.0%, or $192, for a maximum of $2,592.

These are ceilings, not targets. A landlord may raise rent by less, or not at all. And if the unit is under a local rent control law with a lower limit, the local figure is the one to use.

Can a landlord raise rent twice in a year?

Yes, but only in two steps at most, and both steps together cannot exceed the cap. When the same tenant stays in the unit over a 12-month period, the rent may be increased in no more than two increments (1947.12(a)(2)).

Say your Los Angeles rent is $2,400 and your landlord raises it to $2,500 on September 1, 2026. A second increase on March 1, 2027 is still measured from the lowest rent in the prior 12 months — $2,400 — and the 8.7% cap still applies, because an increase taking effect before August 1, 2027 uses the April 2025 to April 2026 change. The second step can therefore take the rent to no more than $2,608.80, an extra $108.80, not another 8.7% on top of $2,500.

Two other rules shape the math:

• Vacancy reset. When a new tenancy starts and no tenant from the prior tenancy remains in lawful possession, the landlord can set the starting rent at any level (1947.12(b)). The cap applies only to increases after that.
• Subleases. A tenant in a covered unit may not sublease for a total rent above the amount the cap allows (1947.12(c)). That rule does not itself give anyone a right to sublet.

How much notice a landlord must give

The rent cap sets how much rent can rise. How much warning you get comes from a separate law: 1947.12(e) requires notice under Civil Code 827. That section requires at least 30 days’ notice for an increase of 10% or less over 12 months and at least 90 days for more than 10%, plus 5 extra calendar days if the notice is mailed to an address in California. Since every 2026 cap is under 10%, a lawful increase on a covered unit needs at least 30 days’ notice. The details are in the California rent increase notice guide.

Cities where local rent control sets the limit

The state cap does not apply to housing already under a local rent control law that limits annual increases to less than the state cap (1947.12(d)(3)). In those units, the local rent board’s figure controls. Los Angeles County’s consumer affairs department, for example, notes that units under the City of Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance have their own cap.

Local rules usually cover some buildings in a city and not others, so the first question is whether your unit is under the local law at all. If it is not, the state cap may still cover it. The city guides explain who is covered and where to find the current local figure:

• Los Angeles rent control (RSO)
• San Francisco tenant rights and the Rent Board
• Oakland rent control and Berkeley rent control
• San Jose rent control and Santa Monica rent control
• San Diego tenant rights

Rentals the 2026 cap does not cover

Section 1947.12(d) lists the exemptions. The ones tenants run into most:

• Housing issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years (a rolling window, not a fixed year), unless it is a mobilehome.
• A single-family home or condo whose owner is not a REIT, a corporation, or an LLC with a corporate member — but only if the tenants received the exact written exemption notice the statute requires.
• A duplex where the owner lived in one unit when your tenancy began and still lives there, if neither unit is an ADU or JADU.
• Deed-restricted or subsidized affordable housing, and college or K-12 school dormitories.

The single-family exemption is the one most often claimed and most often done wrong. The step-by-step check is in Is my California rental exempt from the rent cap?

What if your landlord raised the rent above the cap?

A landlord who demands, accepts or keeps rent above the cap is liable to the tenant under 1947.12(k) for:

• an injunction;
• the overcharged amount;
• reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, at the court’s discretion; and
• up to three times the overcharge if the owner acted willfully or with oppression, fraud or malice.

Say a covered Los Angeles unit with a $2,400 base is raised to $2,700 in October 2026. The legal maximum is $2,608.80, so every month at $2,700 is a $91.20 overcharge. The Attorney General and the local city attorney or county counsel can also enforce the section. A claim must be brought within three years of when it arose, and any lease clause waiving these rights is void (1947.12(l)). A claim for money alone can go to small claims court, where an individual can sue for up to $12,500; see the California small claims guide.

Questions people ask

Is the California rent cap 10% in 2026?

No. 10% is only the ceiling. The actual cap is 5% plus the regional CPI change, which for increases from August 1, 2026 works out to between 8.1% and 8.8% depending on the county.

When do the new 2026 rent cap numbers start?

They apply to increases that take effect on or after August 1, 2026, and they stay in place for increases taking effect through July 31, 2027. The date that matters is when the new rent starts, not when the notice was served.

Does the rent cap apply to single-family homes?

Often yes. A house or condo is exempt only if the owner is not a corporation, REIT or LLC with a corporate member and the tenant received the statutory exemption notice. For tenancies started or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, that notice must be in the lease.

Why is the cap in San Jose lower than in San Francisco?

Santa Clara County is not one of the five counties the statute assigns to the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward index. It uses the DIR California CPI, which gives 8.6% for increases from August 1, 2026, against 8.8% for the five-county San Francisco area.

Does the rent cap expire?

Yes. Section 1947.12(o) repeals the cap on January 1, 2030 unless the Legislature changes it. See what happens when AB 1482 expires.

Related California renter guides

• Rent increase calculator: pick your county and get your maximum rent
• AB 1482 explained: California’s statewide rent cap
• Is my rental exempt from the rent cap?
• Rent increase notice: 30-day vs 90-day rules
• What happens when AB 1482 expires in 2030
• Just cause eviction rules in California

This page explains what the cited California law says. It is not legal advice. Last verified September 28, 2026.