Woodland renters are paying noticeably more than they were a year ago, with the city posting one of the steeper annual rent increases in the Sacramento region. According to Zillow’s Observed Rent Index, the median asking rent in Woodland reached $2,479 per month in April 2026, up $100 — or 4.2% — from $2,379 in May 2025. The increase stands out at a time when rent growth across much of Northern California has been more subdued.
Rents climb faster than the regional norm
The 4.2% year-over-year increase in Woodland rents translates to roughly $1,200 in additional annual housing costs for a household renewing at the new median. Zillow’s index, which tracks the typical market rent across all rental types, suggests that landlords in Woodland have had room to push rents higher over the past 12 months even as some neighboring markets have shown flatter trajectories.
There is no single metric that explains why Woodland has run hotter than the surrounding region, but the city’s relative affordability compared to nearby Davis and parts of Sacramento may be a factor in sustained rental demand. Whatever the cause, the gap between this year’s median and last year’s is meaningful for both new movers and tenants facing renewal.
Affordability sits at the rent-burden line
For a household earning Woodland’s median income of $90,180, the current $2,479 median rent consumes 33.0% of gross income. That places the typical Woodland renter just above the 30% threshold that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses to define a household as rent-burdened.
The math is straightforward: at the year-ago rent of $2,379, the same median-income household would have been spending about 31.7% of income on rent. The additional $100 monthly has pushed the typical rent share up by more than a percentage point in 12 months, deepening — rather than easing — the affordability squeeze for renters in the middle of the income distribution. Households earning below the median face a steeper share, while those above the median have somewhat more cushion.
The rent-versus-buy calculation
For renters weighing a move to ownership, the local for-sale market remains a substantial financial step up. Redfin reports a median sale price of $552,715 for Woodland homes, and 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 6.33% in April 2026 — down from 6.72% a year earlier but still higher than the 6.18% averaged in March. The gap between paying $2,479 a month in rent and financing a home near the local median price remains wide, even with rates somewhat lower than they were 12 months ago.
Nationally, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index was essentially flat year over year through March 2026, suggesting that home price appreciation is no longer adding pressure to the buy-side calculation the way it did in prior years. For Woodland renters, however, the more immediate pressure is on the rental side, where the 4.2% annual increase has outrun broader inflation and pushed affordability metrics in the wrong direction.
What to watch
The combination of a $100 year-over-year rent increase and a rent-to-income ratio that has crossed the 33% mark makes Woodland one of the Sacramento-area cities where rental affordability has measurably tightened over the past year. Renters approaching lease renewals — and landlords setting new asking rents — will both be watching whether the pace of increases observed over the past 12 months holds steady in the months ahead.