Update, Dec. 26, 2015: The map described below is now published through RentHub. The most current version for the Bay Area is embedded above.
Update, April 21, 2013: The real-estate data firm Kwelia updated its map of Bay Area rental prices to make it a little more nuanced. The firm revised the map to show median (instead of average) per-square-foot prices for apartment rents and zeroed in on neighborhoods a little more closely by showing rental rates for each census tract in the region (instead of ZIP codes). We've changed our map display with a link to Kwelia's revised interactive map; just click the image to get to that new map.
Original post: Looking for a cheap place to live in the Bay Area? Start driving east from downtown San Francisco - and keep going.
It probably isn't a surprise that the cheapest residential rents in the region would be in the far East Bay. According to new research from the real estate startup Kwelia, Brentwood has the Bay Area's most affordable residential rent - $0.96 per square foot. Compare that to the cost of renting a residence in San Francisco's Financial District, which can be more than $4 per square foot.