Depending on who you ask the median rental rate is somewhere between $1,970 and $2,030 in Sonoma County. According to a new report by the website RentCafe.com, the average two bedroom in Sonoma County will cost you around $2,027 per month, an increase of $6 over the same month last year.

The picture looks a bit more bleak if you break out Petaluma. According to Rent Cafe, Petaluma residents paid $2,356 in May for an average two-bedroom apartment. That’s up $56 from May 2018.

The national outlook isn’t much better.  The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Out of Reach report, claims that most minimum wage earners cannot afford the median rent in most major cities across the country. Their rent calculator, allows you to tabulate how much you would have to earn for your rent to only account for 30% of your monthly income. For Petaluma residents, that’s around $45 per hour (or $22.50 per hour for a household with two breadwinners).

Rental rate increases put affordable housing further and further out of reach for minimum wage earners.

In California, where the base is around $12 per hour, a two-bedroom apartment around $1,150 would fall within that 30% affordability quotient for a family with two wage earners.

The good news is that the median rent can get you quite a lot in Sonoma County.

From full houses to luxury apartments, click through our gallery above to take a look.