According to the report, released by apartmentlist.com, the median rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in California in March was $1,350 -- 43 percent more than the national average. And that number is rising.
"It's pretty brutal," said Ben Bednarz, who is currently looking for an apartment in the Los Angeles area.
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The report found the median cost of a one-bedroom apartment in California increased by 6.5 percent in the last year.
"I could go to Nebraska and I could just buy a house for $200,000, and a pretty big house probably too, but, you know, then I would have to live in Nebraska," Bednarz said.
The report also looked at the priciest cities and ranked them by the average cost of one- and two-bedroom apartments.
San Francisco topped the list of the 10 most expensive cities in California:
- San Francisco: $4,580 for a 2-bedroom, $3,400 for a 1-bedroom
- Laguna Beach: $4,200 for a 2-bedroom, $1,860 for a 1-bedroom
- Palo Alto: $3,900 for a 2-bedroom, $2,370 for a 1-bedroom
- Santa Monica: $3,630 for a 2-bedroom, $2,730 for a 1-bedroom
- Marina del Rey: $3,470 for a 2-bedroom, $2,710 for a 1-bedroom
- West Hollywood: $3,200 for a 2-bedroom, $1,700 for a 1-bedroom
- San Mateo: $3,130 for a 2-bedroom, $2,660 for a 1-bedroom
- Berkeley: $3,040 for a 2-bedroom, $2,140 for a 1-bedroom
- Mountain View: $3,000 for a 2-bedroom, $2,140 for a 1-bedroom
- Redwood City: $2,980 for a 2-bedroom, $2,470 for a 1-bedroom
The report also found that Americans are renting at the highest rate in 25 years.
According to Chancela Al-Mansour, the executive director of the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles, the amount of available apartments in Los Angeles is not meeting the increasing demand.
"You have a lot of people who are staying in the rental market who may have gone toward the purchase market instead," said Al-Mansour, attributing the increasing amount of renters to the 2009 mortgage crisis.