The cost of renting one’s residence in Southern California has doubled in 17 years — a jump practically twice as fast as the overall cost of living, according to the regional Consumer Price Index.

Since the turn of the century to July, this measurement of local rents is up 102 percent vs. a gain of 53 percent for the overall CPI for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Nationwide, rent costs rose 72 percent in the same period.

This local inflation gap — rental costs vs. the overall basket of goods and services — is growing. It took 19 years for rental costs to double, but overall inflation in the 1981-2000 period rose by almost as much, up 82 percent.

The CPI’s rent index is compiled from a constant survey of households about everyday expenses, including the largest component: housing. This rent metric differs from the often-quoted indexes derived from polling landlords about asking rents.

Sadly, local salaries aren’t keeping up with the growing rent check. The CPI shows local rents are up at a 4.2 percent annual clip since 2000 vs. an estimated per-capita income growth of 3.5 percent in Los Angeles and Orange counties and 2.8 percent in the Inland Empire.

It’s all part of an exaggerated rent upswing in Southern California blamed on solid employment growth outstripping developer’s ability to construct more apartments. The rent rise has accelerated of late.

Southern California’s rental CPI rose at a 5.2 percent annual rate in July, topping the 5.1 percent annualized rate for the first half of the year, a 10-year high. Nationwide, the increase was only 3.9 percent in the first six months.

A local renter’s only solace may be the fact it’s recently been worse in other markets. Southern California’s first-half rent jump was bested by eight of 26 other major U.S. markets tracked by the CPI — topped by Portland’s 8.4 percent in a year and Dallas’ 6.9 percent. And rents in all Western states rose at a collective 5.5 percent annual rate.