Comparing Rent in San Anselmo and Fairfax

Rent costs in San Anselmo and Fairfax aren't cheap, and they vary significantly between neighborhoods.

Now you can see just how pricey renting is, and how those costs compare neighborhood-by-neighborhood.

A new data-based website, Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks uses U.S. census information compiled from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey to show median household income and monthly rents by census tract.

The median rent in the neighborhoods in the northwest corner of San Anselmo, north of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, is $1,747 a month (in 2011 dollars), according to Census data. That's the most costly in town.

The blocks surrounding Red Hills Avenue and the southern stretch of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard are the least expensive in San Anselmo. There rents average $1,311 a month.

West of there, around Lansdale Station Playground, rent averages $1,458 a month.

In Fairfax, it's cheaper to rent north of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard ($1,381 a month) compared to south of the main road ($1,640 per month), according to Census data.

See more on the map above. The lighter the color, the cheaper the rent.

Are you surprised by any of the local data? Tell us in the comments section.

Don't expect it to get any cheaper to live here. An MSN Real Estate article published this spring named the 10 cities where rents will rise most this year. Nearby San Jose and San Francisco were the only California cities to make the list.

In San Francisco, the effective rent at end of 2012 was $1,970, a 5.7 percent increase from the year prior, and the forecasted effective rent growth in 2013 is 5.2 percent.

The average rent in California is $1,185 a month according to the 2007-2011 American Community Survey. Statewide middle rental-range is $996.00 to $1,193.00.

To see the data mapped out census tract by census tract, visit the Rich Block, Poor Blocks website.

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