SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — A new report reveals two Bay Area cities are among the top destination for Gen Z renters.

According to real estate listing firm RentCafe, the volume of rental applications from people born between 1997 and 2012 rose 21% over the past year, while the volume of applications for all other generations fell. 

Some cities seeing “outsize leaps” in the share of Gen Z rental applications between 2020 and 2021 with San Francisco taking the top spot and San Jose coming in at number seven. 

“Big cities are appealing for a host of reasons,” said Nicholas Dempsey, an associate sociology professor at Eckerd College, citing plentiful job opportunities, restaurants, gyms, public transportation, and opportunities for networking (both professional and romantic).

The report reveals that some of that trend is likely to do with age as renters tend to be younger than homeowners, and millennials, now entering their 30s and 40s, are in the peak of homebuying years. 

RentCafe’s list was based on a comparison of rental application data from between January and October 2021 and from the same period in 2020. 

The trendiest cities had the highest percent change in the share of Gen Z rental applications between 2020 and 2021.

Gen Z renters are giving the Golden City Back Its Shine

The report says the first group of true “digital natives” are flocking to the home of technological innovation: San Franciso and San Jose.

California as a whole saw a 31.8% increase in Gen Z renters.

“And, they’re not only breaking into the tech industry of Silicon Valley — they’re doing it with a bang,” the report said.

“The #1 trendiest city for Generation Z, San Francisco logged the greatest increase in Zoomers who moved into new apartments in 2021, at 101%.”