Woodland renters are absorbing one of the steeper annual rent increases in the region. According to Zillow’s Observed Rent Index, the median asking rent in Woodland reached $2,378 per month as of March 2026, up 6.5% from $2,233 a year earlier. That works out to an additional $146 per month, or roughly $1,752 over the course of a year, for households signing leases at the current median.
Rents climb past a key affordability line
The latest rent figure pushes Woodland households just over the threshold that housing economists use to define rent burden. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, the city’s median household income is $90,180. At $2,378 per month, the median rent now consumes 31.6% of that income — slightly above the 30% mark commonly used to flag a household as rent-burdened.
For households earning less than the city median, the share of income going to rent is higher still. Renters tend to earn less than homeowners on average, meaning the practical rent-to-income ratio for Woodland’s actual renting population is likely above the 31.6% figure derived from the citywide median.
How Woodland’s rent trend compares
A 6.5% annual rent increase is notable in the current environment. National rent growth, as tracked by Zillow, has run closer to the low single digits in recent months, suggesting Woodland is outpacing the broader trend. The $146 monthly increase translates to a meaningful budget shift for renters renewing leases or moving within the city — particularly for those whose wages have not kept pace.
The Zillow data does not break out unit sizes, so the citywide median reflects a mix of studios, one-bedrooms, and larger units. Renters comparing specific listings should expect figures above or below the $2,378 median depending on bedroom count, building age, and neighborhood.
The rent-versus-buy calculation
For Woodland renters weighing a home purchase, the gap between monthly rent and ownership costs remains wide. Redfin reports a median home sale price of $605,000 in Woodland — meaning the typical for-sale home is priced more than 250 times the current monthly rent. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.18% in March 2026, down from 6.65% a year earlier but up from 6.05% in February, according to Freddie Mac data published by the Federal Reserve. Nationally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index was slightly lower in March 2026 than a year earlier, suggesting modest softening at the national level even as Woodland rents have moved sharply higher.
That divergence — rents climbing 6.5% locally while national home prices have eased slightly — is reshaping the math for would-be buyers. Renters who had been waiting for ownership costs to come into closer alignment with rent are seeing the rental side of the equation move against them.
What it means going forward
For now, the data points to a Woodland rental market where annual rent growth is outrunning incomes and pushing the median household past the rent-burden line. Renters approaching lease renewal should plan for the possibility of increases consistent with the 6.5% citywide trend, while those shopping for new units will encounter a market where the typical asking rent has moved $146 higher than it was last spring. Landlords, meanwhile, are operating in a market where rent growth has held up even as national home-price appreciation has stalled.