All homes and bedroom counts
Markets / California / El Centro
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
El Centro, CA
El Centro merits investigation only for yield-focused investors willing to underwrite affordability and earthquake exposure carefully.
Median price$381k
Median rent$1,756
Gross yield5.5%
Job growth▲ 0.9%
Composite Market ScoreRank #193 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in El Centro, CA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,756 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 9.27% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside El Centro
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CAFIPS 06025 | $939 | $1,038 | $1,362 | $1,845 | $2,285 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
El Centro merits investigation only for yield-focused investors willing to underwrite affordability and earthquake exposure carefully. Investors requiring broad affordability or low hazard exposure should avoid it. A 5.53% gross yield and 9.27% rent growth are positive income signals, while CES job growth of 0.85% offers only modest demand support.
The $380,929 median value equals 6.6 times median income, and asking rent absorbs 36.54% of household income. That combination supports landlord revenue but leaves tenants and buyers with a narrow financial cushion. The opportunity is stronger rent performance; the risk is that local households are already stretched.
Investors may have negotiating room: supply is 5.7 months and 19.6% of listings have price drops. Against that, net migration is -696 households, weakening the demand picture. The published climate loss ratio is 0.3456% annually, with earthquake the dominant hazard, so property-level insurance and resilience checks are central to diligence.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
How does asking rent compare with the published fair-market rent?
Median asking rent is $1,756 per month, versus a $1,362 fair-market rent for a two-bedroom unit.
What do the migration figures show?
Tax filings show 2,357 households moved in and 3,053 moved out, for net migration of -696.
What are the current for-sale market conditions?
The record reports 5.7 months of supply, a median 36 days on market, and price drops on 19.6% of listings.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 5.5%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 9.27%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 5.7%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep El Centro as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply5.7 mo.▲ from 4.5 mo. a year ago
Median days on market36 days▼ from 39 days a year ago
Listings with price drops19.6%▼ from 20.6% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.3%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 6.5%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 9.27%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield5.5%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.9%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady56→56
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
56| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 79 | 30% | 23.70 |
| Rent trend | 95 | 25% | 23.75 |
| Affordability | 4 | 15% | 0.60 |
| Supply pressure | 42 | 15% | 6.30 |
| Climate risk | 8 | 15% | 1.20 |
| Published score | 56 | ||
El Centro, CA scoreRank #193
56Job growth79/100
CES employment grew 0.85% year over year -> rental demand has positive but modest labor-market support.
Rent trend95/100
Asking rent grew 9.27% and gross yield is 5.53% -> rental income is the market’s clearest opportunity signal.
Affordability4/100
Rent consumes 36.54% of median income and price is 6.6 times income -> tenants and buyers have limited affordability cushions.
Supply pressure42/100
Inventory stands at 5.7 months and 19.6% of listings have price drops -> buyers may have room to negotiate.
Climate risk8/100
Earthquake is the dominant hazard and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.3456% -> insurance terms and property resilience require close review.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$381k
YoY ▲ 6.5%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,756
YoY ▲ 9.27%
Gross Rental Yield
5.5%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,756 × 12 ÷ $380,929
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.9%
CES payrolls
Job signal 79/100
Median Household Income
$58k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
36.5%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
6.6x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,362
Market rent 128.9% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,756Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$1,038−$718 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,362−$394 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,056−$700 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep El Centro as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside El Centro
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Healthcare Support Occupations$34,320 median wage
61.4%
Sales and Related Occupations$36,960 median wage
57.0%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$47,120 median wage
44.7%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$70,910 median wage
29.7%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$40,410 median wage
52.1%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$38,330 median wage
55.0%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
238 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
−696
2,357 in vs 3,053 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 29.5% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$3,187
Arriving $44,722 vs leaving $47,909
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
5.7%
52 of 908 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
earthquake
0.346% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: other
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: San Diego County · Riverside County · Yuma County · Los Angeles County · Maricopa County
✓ 2,357 in − 3,053 out = -696 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Riverside, CA541 arriving
- San Diego, CA472 arriving
- Los Angeles, CA237 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- San Diego, CA619 leaving
- Riverside, CA481 leaving
- Yuma, AZ325 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- Net migration was -696 households, providing a negative demand signal.
- Rent consumes 36.54% of median household income, leaving tenants with a limited affordability cushion.
- Earthquake is the dominant hazard, and the published annual climate loss ratio is 0.3456%.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like El Centro
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Centro, CA (Target) | 56 | $381k | $1,756 | 5.5% | ▲ 0.9% |
| College Station, TX | 50 | $311k | $1,445 | 5.6% | ▲ 0.9% |
| Bowling Green, KY | 46 | $266k | $1,278 | 5.8% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Cookeville, TN | 33 | $300k | $1,554 | 6.2% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Tullahoma, TN | 39 | $321k | $1,494 | 5.6% | ▲ 0.3% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |