Cheapest South Bay Cities and Neighborhoods to Rent in 2026

Last updated: October 29, 2026. By the Apartments Club Editorial Team.

The South Bay offers beach-adjacent living, big employers in aerospace and at the ports, and some of the most affordable rents in coastal LA County. The spread is wide, though. Zillow’s September 2026 data shows typical rents from about $2,151 in Hawthorne to about $6,406 in Manhattan Beach.

This is part five of our Cheapest LA Neighborhoods to Rent series. Earlier parts covered the cheapest City of LA ZIPs, the San Fernando Valley and the areas around Downtown.

About the numbers: every rent figure in this article comes from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), at the ZIP-code level for City of LA areas and the city level for separate cities, all homes plus multifamily, smoothed, for September 2026 (the latest month published when we wrote this), compared with September 2025. ZORI measures the typical asking rent for listed units in the middle of the market (roughly the 35th to 65th percentile), so it covers all unit sizes together. It is not a per-bedroom figure, and you will find listings above and below it. ZIP codes don’t line up exactly with neighborhood borders, so read each ZIP as an approximation of the area named next to it.

South Bay and Harbor areas ranked by typical rent

Area	ZIP / level	Typical rent, Sep 2026	Change vs Sep 2025
Hawthorne	city-wide	$2,151	+2.3%
Harbor City (LA)	90710	$2,175	-1.8%
Gardena	city-wide	$2,334	+2.7%
Long Beach (city)	city-wide	$2,412	+2.5%
Inglewood	city-wide	$2,487	+0.6%
Wilmington (LA)	90744	$2,492	+8.8%
San Pedro (LA)	90731	$2,588	+3.0%
Lawndale	city-wide	$2,692	+5.9%
Lomita	city-wide	$2,888	+1.8%
Carson	city-wide	$2,909	+1.7%
Torrance	city-wide	$3,006	+3.5%
Redondo Beach	city-wide	$3,483	+2.7%
Hermosa Beach	city-wide	$3,970	+7.8%
Rancho Palos Verdes	city-wide	$4,522	+5.7%
Manhattan Beach	city-wide	$6,406	+9.0%

Source: Zillow ZORI (ZIP and city level), September 2026 vs September 2025.

Inland South Bay: Hawthorne, Gardena, Lawndale

A few miles inland from the beach cities, rents drop sharply. Hawthorne, Gardena and Lawndale all come in under the City of LA’s typical rent of about $2,772. Hawthorne is home to big aerospace employers. Gardena has a strong Japanese American food scene. Metro C Line stations serve Hawthorne and Lawndale.

The Harbor: San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City

These three are part of the City of Los Angeles, so the RSO covers many older units there. They’re also among the more affordable coastal-adjacent options in the county. San Pedro has the waterfront and Point Fermin, and it’s close to port jobs.

Torrance and Carson: the middle ground

Torrance is a large, suburban-feeling city with a strong job base. Carson is close to the 405 and 110 freeways. Both sit in the middle of the range.

The beach cities

Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach are at the top end, and Manhattan Beach is one of the most expensive rental markets in the county. Redondo is usually the most attainable of the three. Long Beach, just east, is a separate city with its own rental rules. See our Long Beach guide and the 200 West Ocean building profile.

City rules differ. Separate cities like Santa Monica, Culver City, Pasadena and others have their own rental rules. Some have local rent control or just-cause ordinances, and some rely only on California’s statewide AB 1482 cap. Check the city’s housing department website for any unit you’re considering. The City of LA’s RSO applies only inside LA city limits.

How we picked the areas

We included every area in this part of the county that Zillow tracks and that has enough rental listings to publish a typical-rent figure. Inside the City of Los Angeles, we used ZIP codes so neighborhoods show up separately. For separate cities, we used Zillow’s city-level figure, which blends all of that city’s ZIPs. A few smaller places don’t appear because Zillow doesn’t publish a reliable figure for them. Rents change every month, and we’ll update this table as new data comes out.

Before you sign in the South Bay

• Commute: the 405 and 110 get congested at rush hour. If you work on the Westside or in Downtown, test-drive the commute at peak time.
• Air quality near the ports and refineries varies by location. The South Coast AQMD publishes local air-quality data.
• Moving in: see our apartment moving checklist.

Frequently asked questions

How often is this rent data updated?

Zillow publishes ZORI once a month, usually around the middle of the month, covering the previous month. We plan to refresh the tables in this series when new data comes out. You can always download the raw files from Zillow Research yourself.

Why does my listing search show higher prices than the table?

Listing sites usually sort by newest or featured, and newer, larger and renovated units get the most exposure. ZORI is a middle-of-the-market measure across all unit sizes, so a typical studio will often cost less than the figure shown and a typical two-bedroom more. Use the table to compare areas, not to predict the rent on any one apartment.

Is a rent-stabilized apartment always cheaper?

Not on day one. Under the RSO, a landlord can generally set the rent at market rate when a new tenant moves in. The benefit is that annual increases afterward are limited to the amount the city sets each year. The LA Housing Department publishes the current allowable increase. Over a multi-year stay, that limit can be worth more than a lower starting rent somewhere else.

Are these areas safe?

Safety varies block by block, so we don’t rate whole ZIP codes. Visit at night and on weekends, talk to current tenants if you can, and check the LAPD’s official crime mapping and statistics for the exact address.

Before you sign: how to make a cheaper neighborhood actually cheaper

A lower rent only helps if the rest of the deal holds up. Some checks to run on any listing in these ZIPs:

• Find out if the unit is rent-stabilized. In the City of Los Angeles, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) generally covers rental units built on or before October 1, 1978. These areas have plenty of older buildings, so an RSO unit is common, and that limits how much your rent can go up each year. You can look up any address on the LA Housing Department site. Newer buildings may still fall under California’s statewide cap (AB 1482).
• Know the deposit rules. Since July 1, 2024, California’s AB 12 caps most security deposits at one month’s rent. Our guide on getting your security deposit back covers what happens when you move out.
• Budget for the full monthly cost. Add parking, utilities and renters insurance, then run the total through our rent affordability calculator. Our guide to how much rent you can afford explains the 30% rule and where it falls short.
• Watch for scams. Below-market listings attract fake ones. Read how to spot a rental scam before you send money to anyone.
• Get your application ready early. Good-value units in these ZIPs go fast. Our rental application tips cover the documents landlords ask for.

Looking, or renting one out?

Our free Apartments Club rentals board is new. Landlords and property managers in these neighborhoods can list a rental for free. If you’re still deciding where to live, start with our LA neighborhood guides.

Featured image: Torrance panorama.jpg by woo from Irvine, CA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Sources: Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), as cited in the text above. Figures reflect the data release noted where they appear; listings and prices change. How we source and update data: Editorial Standards & Sources.