Gas got a little cheaper everywhere in the state this month, even as San Francisco's listing prices kept climbing.
If you're job hunting in California, this was a good month almost everywhere. Los Angeles's unemployment rate fell from 4.8% to 4.4%, the biggest move on the board. Bakersfield and Fresno, two cities that have carried higher unemployment for years, both saw real drops too, down to 7.9% and 7.3%. Stockton, San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento all moved the same direction. None of these are small towns posting a fluke number. This is the whole state's labor market loosening up its grip at once.
San Francisco's the exception to the good-news pattern, and it's a big one if you're trying to buy there. Median listing price jumped 5.1% to $957,475, the sharpest move of any metric in the state this week. Rent in the city rose too, up 2.1% to $4,784, and the typical home value climbed 2.0% to $1,441,021. The job market there is strengthening at the same time, unemployment down to 4.4%, so more people have steadier paychecks chasing a smaller, pricier stock of homes.
Everybody got a break at the pump. Gas prices fell in every city we track, from Stockton's $5.64 up to Bakersfield's $6.02, with the statewide average at $5.84. It's not a dramatic swing anywhere, a percent or two, but it's one less thing working against you if you're already stretched thin on rent.
- Los Angeles's unemployment rate fell 8.3% to 4.4% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- Bakersfield's unemployment rate fell 6.0% to 7.9% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- Fresno's unemployment rate fell 5.2% to 7.3% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- San Francisco's median listing price rose 5.1% to $957,475 in September 2026, per FRED / realtor.com.
- Stockton's unemployment rate fell 4.6% to 6.2% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- San Francisco's unemployment rate fell 4.3% to 4.4% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- San Diego's unemployment rate fell 4.1% to 4.7% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- Sacramento's unemployment rate fell 3.8% to 5.0% in September 2026, per BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
- San Francisco's median rent rose 2.1% to $4,784 in September 2026, per Zillow's rent index.
- California's statewide gas price fell 1.8% to $5.84 on November 6, 2026, per AAA.