Which is the hardest Southern California county to find a rental?

My trusty spreadsheet looked at ApartmentList’s monthly rental vacancy report for 165 big U.S. counties, including six in Southern California. The study, which looks at available units at primarily larger complexes on ApartmentList’s website, tracks a fundamental challenge for folks seeking a rental property: What’s available?

January’s Los Angeles County wildfires created extra housing demand in the region’s already tight rental market by destroying or damaging more than 12,000 structures around Altadena and Pacific Palisades. February vacancy was compared to to December in order to gauge how wildfires altered apartment availability.

Not only was San Bernardino’s 3.7% vacancy rate in February the region’s lowest, it also ranked as the fifth-tightest market among large U.S. counties.

And any search for a rental in San Bernardino got tougher this winter. The vacancy rate fell 0.2 percentage points in two months, the No. 49 dip nationally.

Now February’s rate was equal to San Bernardino’s five-year average vacancy was flat, but that was still the 38th worst result for renters among the 165 counties.

In Los Angeles County, where the fires struck, availability also shrank.

L.A.’s 4.9% vacancy rate in February was 23rd lowest among the big counties. That was down 0.1 point in two months, the No. 52 dip, and 0.5 points below the 5.3% 5-year average, the No. 18 decline.

Here’s how four other local counties ranked on the ApartmentList scorecard …

Riverside County: 4.8% February vacancy, the 18th fewest empty units – down 0.1 points from December (No. 55 decline) and 0.7 points above 4.1% 5-year average (No. 78).

Ventura County: 5% February vacancy (No. 27) – down 0.5 points from December (No. 13) and 0.6 points above 4.4% 5-year average (No. 68).

Orange County: 5.6% February vacancy (No. 51) – up 0.1 point from December (No. 92) and 0.7 points above 4.8% 5-year average (No. 79).

San Diego County: 5.9% February vacancy (No. 65) – up 0.1 point from December (No. 101) and 1.5 points above 4.3% 5-year average (No. 115).

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com