Looking for a roommate, a room, or someone to sublet? Then visit the Galois Group Housing Exchange List!
[Printable Version]

Finding Housing in Davis

The Key: If you start your housing search well in advance of your arrival on campus, you should be able to find a great place to live.

Lease Schedule

Most houses and apartments in Davis are leased on a year-to-year basis. Leases typically begin September 1 and end August 31. To ensure you'll have your pick of places to live, begin your search in March or April if you'll be coming in the fall. If you're coming during the summer ask about options to sublease and start your lease early. Often you'll get a discount on the rent for the summer months for doing this and you won't have to move twice.

The Costs of Renting

Average Monthly Rent **

studio apartment: $813/month

1-bedroom apartment: $947/month

2-bedroom apartment: $1226/month

3-bedroom apartment: $1818/month

4-bedroom apartment: $2369/month

5-bedroom apartment: $2838/month

**Rates from University Housing Website (October 2009)

Vacancy rate:

1.8% of all units

Cost Varying Details

Housing in Davis varies along a few important dimensions, including type, quality, location, and price. Distance from campus and condition of the house interact in determining price: the price decreases as you get further away from campus, but increases as you get into the newer and nicer homes (which tend to be built further away). A better predictor of price may be neighborhood. Davis has no "bad" neighborhoods, but homes in West Davis (west of Route 113), North Davis (north of Covell Road), and South Davis (south of Interstate 80) tend to be more expensive than those in East Davis (east of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks) or in Central Davis (the middle).

Rental Fees

You'll often start with a rental application ($30). After they review your application and you sign your lease be prepared to pay first and last months rent when you move in, as well as a security deposit. The amount of the deposit varies at the landlord's discretion, but cannot be more than two months rent. (If the apartment is furnished, your deposit can total up to three months rent.) If you have a pet you'll often have to pay a pet deposit, which will only be partially returned (you will have to pay to have the carpet cleaned if you have a cat and they will often take that from your pet deposit).

Finding a Place

Most houses and apartments in Davis are leased on a year-to-year basis. Leases typically begin September 1 and end August 31. To ensure you’ll have your pick of places to live, begin your search in March or April if you’ll be coming in the fall. If you’ll enroll in the winter or spring, your best bet may be to begin your search a month or two in advance; other tenants may be graduating and moving out at the end of a quarter.

Both the university and the Davis community have a number of resources available for students searching for housing:

Davis Housing

ASUCD Community Housing Web site

Alternative Housing Options

Craigslist for Sacramento

Davis Real Estate

On Campus Student Apartments

Davis Enterprise Rentals Listing

City of Davis Affordable Housing Project : This is a program that has housing available at a rate based on your income. There are several housing units in Davis that participate in this program. There are other low-income programs available that will help you decrease the cost of living in Davis including: Lifeline discount phone service and PG&E electricity CARE program

Don't forget to check out the Galois Housing Exchange List!

Tips on Various Housing Sites in Davis

  • We encourage you to take a good long look and ask many questions to be sure that your needs and requirements are met at any given place.
  • How to avoid the sophomore dorms: email grads@math and ask if someone can send you a few details about the site you're looking at. This is especially useful if you need someone to do a site visit of any location that you are seriously considering. Your life will be WAY easier if you use us as a resource.
  • When visiting a place, ask about maintenance: if you have a problem, how long will you have to wait for it to be fixed? The average seems to be 24-48 hours, and a few places have a 24-hour fix-it phoneline.
  • Some of us moved out of Davis in order to find cheaper housing in the nearby Sacramento, Woodland and Dixon.
  • Other Websites with tips: Renters Tips