Sell Your Commercial Property In San Bernardino County, CA

Who rents in San Bernardino County

Renters head 256,079 of the 674,915 occupied households in San Bernardino County, a 37.9% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners hold the larger group, at 418,836 households. Across California, renters make up 44.1% of households, a higher share than this county posts.

San Bernardino city carries the heaviest renter concentration in the table, with renters in half of its households. Fontana and Ontario follow as large employment and warehouse hubs along the I-10 corridor, each with over 180,000 residents. Rancho Cucamonga and Chino post smaller renter shares but rank among the county's largest cities by population.

Rents, growth and affordability

San Bernardino County's median gross rent climbed 40.4%, from $1,283 to $1,801, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Population grew far more slowly over the same span, up 2.2% to 2,197,104 residents. Renter households barely moved, rising 0.1% to add just 319 households countywide.

Supply grew modestly. Units in 5+ unit buildings in San Bernardino County rose 2.1%, an increase of 2,079 units. That slow pace helps explain a 3.4% rental vacancy rate, tighter than the 4.2% California rate in the same survey.

Rent burden is heavy. In the 2020-2024 ACS, 58.5% of San Bernardino County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent. HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area is $2,103, effective October 1, 2026, running $302 above the county's median gross rent.

Household income rose 34.9% over the same period, to a median of $85,478, while employment grew 6.3%, adding 57,707 jobs. San Bernardino County's $1,801 median gross rent still trails the statewide $2,036 figure by $235, a gap buyers weigh against this county's faster rent growth.

City-by-city comparison

San Bernardino County's ten largest cities span a wide price range. Victorville posts the county's highest rental vacancy at 6.2%, well above the countywide 3.4% rate. Rialto and Hesperia sit at the opposite end, near 1.4% and 1.6%. Rent ranges from $1,508 in San Bernardino city to $2,357 in Rancho Cucamonga.

San Bernardino city combines the lowest rent on this table with the highest renter share, at 50.0%, and 22.3% of its units in 5+ unit buildings. Fontana and Chino run lower renter shares near a third of households, despite large populations tied to warehousing and logistics work.

Rancho Cucamonga and Chino both top 21% of units in 5+ unit buildings, close to San Bernardino city's share. Upland and Redlands post renter shares above 42%, closer to the statewide 44.1% figure than most of the county's larger cities.

Property taxes and assessment in San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County assesses apartment buildings under Proposition 13: a property is valued at its purchase price when sold, then that assessed value rises at most 2% a year until the next sale triggers reassessment to current market value. The base levy is 1% of assessed value, plus voter-approved debt-service rates that vary by Tax Rate Area.

Those add-on rates matter. Upland's own 2025 financial report cites a combined rate of 1.22640% for its tax rate areas, pulled from the county Assessor's tax rate table. A different city or tax rate area in San Bernardino County can land meaningfully above or below that figure.

Documentary transfer tax applies at sale, per the county Assessor-Recorder-Clerk's documentary transfer tax guidance, at the statewide standard rate of $0.55 per $500 of consideration above $100. Pull the specific parcel's current tax rate area before you price a sale, since the combined rate differs by city and by school or community college district bonds.

What this means if you sell in San Bernardino County

When you sell commercial property in San Bernardino County, CA, you sell into a county where renters hold 37.9% of households and rent has climbed 40.4% in five years. The 3.4% rental vacancy rate is tighter than the 4.2% California average, which favors sellers showing strong trailing occupancy.

Taxes reset at sale under Proposition 13, so buyers underwrite the post-sale assessed value, not your current bill. California's statewide just-cause eviction rules under Civil Code Section 1946.2 and the one-month security deposit cap under Civil Code Section 1950.5 apply unless a specific city ordinance adds its own protections.

As a multifamily buyer in San Bernardino County, we review 5+ unit buildings from San Bernardino city to Rancho Cucamonga as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and the latest tax statement, and we will price the building on those numbers.