Best Cities for Rental Properties
The Best Places to Buy Real Estate Homebuyers in the United States in 2025 are under pressure to locate a home quickly, while renters are eager to find a rental property at a reasonable price.
To help you get started in your investment endeavors, we’ve compiled a wealth of statistics from reliable sources below about the trendiest places to buy real estate.
Low supply, rising prices, high financing costs, large down payments, competition from investment buyers, and slow new development are all characteristics of the 2025 real estate market. While there may be speculation about a housing slowdown, rental property prices and income stability are predictable through the lack of housing availability.
Rental housing market can be a much better long term investment plan than stocks. Long term investing is popular these days as short term profit gains are rare now. Investors all over the world are looking for the best homes to invest in.
The latest statistics from NAR and Zumper reveal that price growth has slowed and even declined in some cities (such as in the West).
Top 40 Cities to Invest in Real Estate 2025
With the Covid pandemic over, life is returning to almost normal, and some people are returning to cities and suburbs. Migration of all kinds is causing price waves to spread across the country.
Surprisingly, long-overlooked states like Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, and Connecticut appear to be experiencing more growth than California, Texas, and Florida. These states appear to be poised to benefit from a return of manufacturing to the United States as global trade changes.
Investment Opportunity for Property Owners
Many investors are willing to buy in more profitable locations where the rental market is strong this year because loan rates are still historically cheap.
Investors have the opportunity to invest in different types of properties now that money has been removed from the stock, bond and equity markets. Property managers will be tasked with a variety of properties, from SFR to mixed residential and commercial properties to commercial properties, depending on the needs of the owners.
In 2025, what will support rental housing?
While homebuyers can't afford to oversupply housing entering the market, investors can.
- A large segment of the rental market, particularly in California and Texas, and perhaps South Florida, lacks the opportunity to purchase a property due to demand from renters of all types who are moving for work or young families who are unable to buy.
- Due to the uncertainty, more homeowners began advertising their homes, creating rental properties.
- Banks are reluctant to lend to multifamily developers and homebuilders, constraining supply as the economy recovers slowly this year and into 2025. As a result, the economy may not be as bad as expected.
You can see which cities are the most profitable for investors by looking at the housing markets in Texas, Colorado, California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, North Carolina, and Florida. Finding properties in the best areas is the hard part. Here is a comprehensive list of the best cities to buy.
The best cities to buy are those where demand and pricing indicate sound underlying economic fundamentals, according to the latest estimate from the NAR.
The best cities to buy real estate in include Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Charlotte, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando, Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, and even Los Angeles.
What are the most important elements when buying a rental property?
Check out these six crucial elements:
- Local Businesses and State and Local Taxes
- Rising employment and wages
- population expansion
- Increase home value
- High rental costs
- Rent return
List of Hottest Cities in NAR
A noteworthy source is the NAR ranking of top cities. You can see the attractiveness ranking and its change over time and buyer interest in the chart below (data courtesy of NAR). Although the pricing is current, they have not shown year-over-year price growth, which is something buyers should be aware of.
What illustrates how much the US housing market will change in 2024 is the majority of Midwestern cities.
| metro heat | Gravity Rank | Temperature rating compared to last year | Viewers per site vs US | Average days on market | Average listing price if active during the period |
| La Crosse Onalaska, Wis. Minnesota | 2 | 13 | 2.2 | 27 | $349,650 |
| Rochester, New York | 3 | 2 | 2.1 | 23 | $225,450 |
| Springfield, Ohio | 4 | 33 | 2.2 | 30 | $167,400 |
| Burlington, North Carolina | 5 | -4 | 1.8 | 27 | $375,000 |
| Portland South Portland, Maine | 6 | 5 | 2.7 | 34 | $550,000 |
| Monroe, Michigan | 7 | 24 | 2.1 | 32 | $245,950 |
| Worcester, Mass. - Connecticut. | 8 | 9 | 1.8 | 30 | $449,900 |
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | 9 | -1 | 1.8 | 29 | $295,000 |
| Springfield, Massachusetts. | 10 | 11 | 1.9 | 33 | $344,900 |
| Reading, Pennsylvania | 11 | 122 | 1.8 | 32 | $264,950 |
| Kingsport - Bristol - Bristol, Tennessee - Virginia | 12 | 16 | 2.7 | 35 | $289,900 |
| Johnson City, Tennessee | 13 | -9 | 3.4 | 36 | $382,200 |
| Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana | 14 | -8 | 1.6 | 30 | $255,000 |
| Lafayette West Lafayette, Indiana | 15 | 9 | 1.8 | 34 | $290,750 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 16 | 3 | 1.5 | 29 | $336,000 |
| Racine, Wisconsin | 17 | 17 | 2 | 36 | $334,000 |
| Providence-Warwick, Massachusetts | 18 | 35 | 1.5 | 33 | $474,950 |
| Saginaw, Michigan | 19 | -1 | 1.4 | 31 | $174,450 |
| New Haven Milford, Connecticut. | 20 | 49 | 1.8 | 36 | $359,000 |
A comprehensive list of cities with the best real estate markets, where buyer demand is strong, was created by Wallethub. In this newly updated interactive tool, they rank them on a scale of:
ApartmentGuide has compiled a list of the top cities that have seen rental growth:
- Las Vegas, Nevada (+42.1%)
- Jacksonville, Florida (+35.5%)
- Tucson, Arizona (+32.5%)
- Santa Ana, California (+27.3%)
- Houston, Texas (+24.3%)
- Henderson, Nevada (+24.1%)
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina (+23.3%)
- Irvine, California (+23.3%
- Reno, Nevada (+20.4%)
- Aurora, carbon monoxide (+19.8%)
Apartmentlist ranks cities based on rent increases. We know that there is a high demand for rental housing in blue-collar neighborhoods where rents are high.
Searching for better assets
There is a strong profit potential for those who invest in rental income due to the large number of people who want or need to rent a house, condominium or apartment. Finding the best locations to invest in - and possibly avoiding the worst - is essential for investors.
Rental income properties are a potential investment that pays to own, according to those looking for this type of property. Get long-term stability, reduce taxes, and increase profits by leveraging rental properties to generate sustainable passive income.
You can optimize your property management procedures by using cutting-edge Proptech products like Managecasa. Learn the power of modern remote property management. It changes everything.
In-depth details and facts from leading data sources are provided below, highlighting the cities with the greatest potential. From there, you can segment them into specific high-quality areas to balance the profit potential in your favor.
Rental price request for one family
The single-family housing market is still worth studying. However, given the rapid increase in home values, it will be difficult to determine the rent-to-price ratio in some locations, such as Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, and Florida. The center or core offers a stronger rental index, as this chart shows. For more detailed information on the single-family rental market, visit realestateconsulting.com .
Tenant Statistics:
- The increase in rental demand was greatest among those earning less than $25,000.
- Over the past 10 years, an additional 4 million renters in the United States have been younger renters.
- Household incomes over $50,000 had the fastest growth in rental housing (3.3 million new renters).
- There are currently an additional 1.6 million renters earning more than $100,000 per year.
- The supply of rental housing has also increased (single-family homes now make up 40% of the total supply).
- Seventy-five percent of the largest U.S. cities had a rental vacancy rate of less than 5%.
- Smaller cities are seeing the biggest increases, with rents rising in 89% of the largest cities in January.
Contrary to the general trend, renting is more affordable than buying a home in 14 of the nation’s most populous counties and in 30 of the 39 counties with a population of 1 million or more (76%)—including Los Angeles County, California; Cook County (Chicago), Illinois; Harris County (Houston), Texas; Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona; and San Diego County, California, including the cities of Miami, New York, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Jose, San Francisco and Boston.
In style in 2025
The methods real estate investors use to find and acquire rental properties have become more sophisticated. Price-to-rent ratios in major cities are out of control, and capital growth is negative. They are now investigating smaller secondary markets.
The secondary market is still on fire:
Prices in secondary markets are rising, population growth rates are twice as fast as in primary markets, job growth is more than double, and the population is getting younger. Millennials and Gen Z are the new markets, and they are in dire need of housing, especially townhouses and townhomes, that are affordable to younger renters. Southern U.S. cities will see the most growth in 2024.
Atomdata cited 48 cities with net cash flows above $10,000 and 874 cities with positive net cash flows from rental properties of at least $5,000. Mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and 20% of property management fees are subtracted from gross rent as part of the net cash flow forecast methodology.
This means that you can make significantly more money by using effective property management techniques.
Area codes 74126 in Tulsa, Oklahoma ($10,064 net annual cash flow potential), 63115 in St. Louis ($10,012), 19103 in Chester, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia metro area ($10,237), 48234 in Detroit, Michigan ($10,292), and 08104 in Camden, New Jersey, also in the Philadelphia metro area ($11,388) topped the $10,000 annual cash flow list based on the highest cash-to-cash return ratio. — AtomData
Top Cities for National Rent Growth
Are these the best cities to buy real estate in? Those who have been following our reports for the past four years are now reaping the benefits. These major cities are already experiencing high rental growth, which is attracting buyers.
Are these the best cities to buy real estate in? Those who have been following our reports for the past four years are now reaping the benefits. These major cities are already experiencing high rental growth, which is attracting buyers.
| city | price | millimeter% | And / And | price | millimeter% | And / And |
| (Courtesy of Zumper) | 1 bedroom | 2 bedrooms | ||||
| Orlando, Florida | $1630 | 0.60٪ | 25.40٪ | 1910 USD | 3.20٪ | 35.50٪ |
| Miami, FL | $2420 | 3.40٪ | 34.40٪ | $3220 | 3.90٪ | 34.20٪ |
| St. Petersburg, Florida | $1470 | -2.00٪ | 22.50٪ | $2120 | -3.20٪ | 34.20٪ |
| Las Vegas, Nevada | $1250 | 0.80٪ | 25.00٪ | $1600 | 4.60٪ | 33.30٪ |
| Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 1880 USD | -3.10٪ | 10.60٪ | $2900 | 3.20٪ | 32.40٪ |
| Tampa, Florida | $1600 | 0.60٪ | 28.00٪ | $1850 | 2.20٪ | 32.10٪ |
| New York, New York | $3100 | -4.90٪ | 26.00٪ | $3300 | -2.90٪ | 29.40٪ |
| Seattle, Washington | $1730 | -4.90٪ | 15.30٪ | $2570 | 0.00٪ | 29.10٪ |
| Glendale, Arizona | $1200 | 0.00٪ | 29.00٪ | $1480 | 2.80٪ | 26.50٪ |
| Knoxville, Tennessee | $1,080 | 0.90٪ | 30.10٪ | $1290 | 4.00٪ | 26.50٪ |
| Anaheim, California | 1880 USD | 5.00٪ | 11.90٪ | $2520 | 5.00٪ | 26.00٪ |
| Tucson, Arizona | $880 | 4.80٪ | 20.50٪ | $1200 | 0.80٪ | 25.00٪ |
| Austin, Texas | $1550 | 0.00٪ | 30.30٪ | 1910 USD | -1.00٪ | 24.00٪ |
| Boston, Massachusetts | $2700 | -0.70٪ | 31.70٪ | $3,090 | -1.90٪ | 23.60٪ |
How do you analyze your cash flow? You can use online property management software to help you or download a cash flow analysis spreadsheet . Use ManageCasa. Totally free!
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Job rates in different countries
According to the RentCafe report, smaller U.S. cities continue to see the highest increases, with Gilbert, Arizona (8.5%), Roseville, California (8.5%), and Fort Collins, Colorado (7.9%) rounding out the top 10.
List of the best cities to buy rental properties
Here's a quick look at price/rent ratios for US cities based on information from RentCafe, RentMonkey, Zillow, and other sources, though it's not entirely scientific. Will the cost of rent decrease in these cities? Oil prices may cause some of them to experience sharp declines, whereas economic changes may cause other cities to experience sharp increases.
Best Places in 2025 to Buy Rental Property
City | City Rating | Affordability and Economic | Average Apartment Rent Price | Home Price | YoY Home Price Change | Average Household Income | |
| 1 | Frisco, TX | 75.1 | 1 | 1,758 | 620,921 | 36.0% | $127,055.00 |
| 2 | Austin, TX | 73.1 | 56 | 1,690 | 639,839 | 41.0% | $75,413.00 |
| 3 | Gilbert, AZ | 72.7 | 21 | 1,814 | 547,777 | 32.0% | $96,857.00 |
| 4 | McKinney, TX | 71.7 | 4 | 1,624 | 492,048 | 37.0% | $93,354.00 |
| 5 | Denton, TX | 71.5 | 93 | 1,758 | 351,000 | 24.0% | $60,018.00 |
| 6 | Allen, TX | 69.4 | 15 | 1,638 | 489,000 | 35.0% | $105,925.00 |
| 7 | Durham, NC | 68.9 | 16 | 1,432 | 371,000 | 32.0% | $65,534.00 |
| 8 | Reno, NV | 68.3 | 108 | $1,557 | $549,527 | 26.0% | $58,790.00 |
| 9 | Roseville, CA | 68.0 | 38 | 2,164 | 642,878 | 22.0% | $89,082.00 |
| 10 | Nashville, TN | 67.6 | 37 | 1,644 | 404,945 | 26.0% | $86,035.00 |
| 11 | Boise, ID | 67.6 | 5 | 1,554 | 523,760 | 27.0% | $60,035.00 |
| 12 | Cary, NC | 67.3 | 6 | 1,523 | 547,001 | 32.0% | $104,669.00 |
| 13 | Murfreesboro, TN | 66.4 | 2 | 1369 | 388000 | 33.0% | $57,753.00 |
| 14 | Spokane Valley, WA | 66.1 | 30 | 1,351 | 402,687 | 27.0% | $59,646.00 |
| 15 | Vancouver, WA | 65.6 | 54 | 1,569 | 486,719 | 22.0% | $61,714.00 |
| 16 | Hillsboro, OR | 65.4 | 32 | 1,882 | 523,509 | 20.0% | $82,275.00 |
| 17 | Chandler, AZ | 65.3 | 88 | 1,823 | 498,677 | 29.0% | $83,709.00 |
| 18 | Seattle, WA | 65.2 | 63 | 2,197 | 915,340 | 13.0% | $102,486.00 |
| 19 | Peoria, AZ | 65.1 | 87 | 1,665 | 457,273 | 31.0% | $75,323.00 |
| 20 | Surprise, AZ | 65.0 | 62 | 1,772 | 424,271 | 33.0% | $69,076.00 |
| 21 | Beaverton, OR | 64.8 | 103 | 1,643 | 539,699 | 21.0% | $71,806.00 |
| 22 | Salt Lake City, UT | 64.8 | 27 | 1,478 | 583,858 | 23.0% | $80,196.00 |
| 23 | Clovis, CA | 64.7 | 14 | 1,461 | 482,056 | 22.0% | $77,904.00 |
| 24 | Longmont, CO | 64.7 | 159 | 1,706 | 551,752 | 23.0% | $74,242.00 |
| 25 | Colorado Springs, CO | 64.6 | 53 | 1,473 | 461,668 | 26.0% | $58,158.00 |
| 26 | Fort Worth, TX | 64.6 | 106 | 1,303 | 292,552 | 27.0% | $65,356.00 |
| 27 | Arvada, CO | 64.4 | 98 | 1,678 | 625,511 | 23.0% | $89,523.00 |
| 28 | Mesa, Arizona | 64.1 | 107 | 1،479 | 405723 | 29.0٪ | $63836.00 |
| 29 | Irvine, California | 63.7 | 67 | 2،901 | 1،159،143 | 23.0٪ | $91999.00 |
| 30 | Santa Clara, California | 63.7 | 234 | 2،814 | 1،631،904 | 15.0٪ | $133,076.00 |
Comprehensive real estate investment
There’s a lot of data to sort through, as you can see. As you examine it, consider macroeconomic aspects such as oil prices, trade agreements, interest rates, significant industry growth, new development levels, and the major job requirements of each city. Why are local economies growing? Who are the biggest employers?
There is no doubt that the best cities for real estate investors will attract a lot of attention in 2025.
Enjoy investigating the best locations to buy a rental property. Landlords are actively pursuing this, and even property management companies are now doing so.