The number of renter households earning $1 million or more annually in the San Francisco metropolitan area — which includes San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties — rose 273% between 2020 and 2024, according to an analysis of census microdata by the rental listing site RentCafe. San Francisco alone counted 1,863 millionaire renter households in 2024, up from 499 four years earlier, placing the city second nationally behind only New York City, which had 7,296 such households, a 167% increase.

Combined, the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas are home to 2,758 millionaire renters — more than Miami, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, combined.

The trend is national, but the Bay Area's concentration is distinctive. "For many, renting is a deliberate choice," said Veronica Grecu, the RentCafe research analyst who authored the report. "It keeps their money invested and lets them move for the next opportunity without selling a multimillion-dollar home."

The figures predate the full effect of the region's artificial intelligence boom; 2025 census data is not expected until early next year. But other indicators suggest the shift has accelerated. Population tracker Censai reports that median income in the San Francisco metro area rose 50% over the past two years, average net worth climbed 30%, and the share of residents earning more than $200,000 grew 72.5%. Censai's metro definition covers only the city and the inner East Bay.

The phenomenon has spread beyond the urban core. Napa recorded no millionaire renter households before 2020 but had 70 in 2024, a shift Grecu attributes to affluent households seeking a country lifestyle and a lower cost of living. Millionaire homeowners are also increasing, though more slowly — up 171% in the San Francisco metro. Vallejo had more than 200 millionaire homeowners in 2024, an 18-fold increase over pre-pandemic levels, likely reflecting high earners priced out of the core metro who bought within ferry distance of San Francisco, Grecu said.

Younger renters are driving much of the growth. Nationwide, Gen Z is the fastest-growing group of millionaire renters. In the San Francisco metro, the 2024 data counted 24 Gen Z millionaire renter households and no millionaire Gen Z homeowners. Among millennial millionaires, there were 1,430 renters and 3,244 homeowners, making them the largest local millionaire demographic.

"Reaching $1 million in household income by your late 20s usually takes a job in a top-paying field, and AI has made that more common," Grecu said, noting that equity counts as income in census data only once it vests.

Real estate professionals describe a market transformed in a matter of months. "We're seeing a shocking number of renters with verified income in the high six figures and low seven figures," said Ryan Shane, president of The Housing Guild, which manages rental properties in the city and on the Peninsula. "In 2024, it was rare to see someone with a seven-figure income renting an apartment or even a luxury condo. Now it's downright common."

Shane said many high-earning tenants are "happy to pay" five-figure monthly rents in exchange for the ability to move easily if a building or neighborhood no longer suits them. That willingness has helped push the rental market to record levels. October rents in San Francisco were up 24% from a year earlier, according to ApartmentList.

For many high earners, renting also makes more financial sense than owning, said James Wavro, founder of the leasing firm J. Wavro Associates. But their financial power makes it harder for other renters to compete. "Rents are being bid up by people who earn enough to buy," Wavro said of applicants for his listings.

Compass agent Ted Bartlett, who specializes in luxury home sales, said a growing number of homeowner clients are asking him to help their adult children secure rentals. Younger clients identify the apartment they want, and Bartlett contacts the leasing agent on their behalf. "How do you pick one of 50 applications?" he said. "I vouch for them, and then I just create the dialogue with the rental agent like you would with a sales agent."

Landlords have raised income requirements and become pickier than they were two years ago, said Milan Jezdimirovic, a Compass agent who specializes in downtown rentals and condos. Nearly all of the more than 140 luxury units he and partner Dunja Green handle each year now draw multiple applications — rare in 2024 and unheard of during the pandemic exodus.

Jezdimirovic argues that buyers, even very wealthy ones, may face a tougher market than renters, with all-cash bidding wars and minimal inventory ahead of upcoming AI initial public offerings, including Anthropic's. That is pushing many would-be buyers, especially newcomers, to rent first — even with seven-figure incomes.

"Buying has become harder, even for rich people," he said.