Which city in Orange County has the most renters? Here’s the data:

Costa Mesa has the most renters among Orange County’s 15 largest cities, new U.S. Census Bureau figures show.

Nearly six out of ten of the city’s 43,000 housing units are occupied by tenants, while just 43% of the units are occupied by homeowners.

That’s the highest percentage of renters among the 15 O.C. cities with populations of 65,000 or more — the size of cities, counties and states included in the census’ 2010 American Community Survey results, which includes housing data.

The next biggest renter populations are found in Santa Ana and Anaheim, where just over half the housing units are occupied by renters. In Irvine, just under half — 49.9% of all households — are renters.

Countywide, the proportion of renters is at its highest level in the past decade — emblematic of the toll the housing crash has taken on families who either lost their homes to foreclosure or sold out under a threat of foreclosure.

The census figures show further:

• Yorba Linda has the smallest proportion of renters among the county’s 15 biggest cities. Just 16.4% of all housing units are rented out there, while 83.6% of all homes are occupied by their owners.
• The next smallest proportions of renters are found in Mission Viejo (23.2% of homes are rentals) and Lake Forest (30.7%).
• Countywide, 40.8% of O.C.’s 986,297 occupied housing units are rented out, while 59.2% of homes are owner occupied.
• In 2002, 40.1% of homes were rented out, but the proportion of renters started to drop as the housing boom picked up steam in 2003. By 2004, the proportion of rentals fell to the decade’s low of 36.4%.
• But rental rates began climbing again in 2008, and reached a decade high of 40.8% in 2010.
• The O.C. homeownership rate fell from a decade high of 63.6% in 2004 to a decade low of 59.2% in 2010.

On another housing front, the census figures show that Orange County retains its suburban status, but barely. Just over half — or 50.9% — of all housing units were detached houses in 2010.