Best Metro Areas to Invest in Real Estate (2026)
Rankings across 177 US metro areas with a population over 250,000. The size floor matters: without it the highest yields in the country belong to towns too small to place capital in.
Metro rankings
Best Metro Areas for Rental Cash Flow
Large US metro areas ranked by estimated monthly cash flow on a median-priced rental, after mortgage and operating costs.
Highest Cap Rate Metro Areas
Large US metro areas ranked by estimated cap rate on a median-priced rental, using local median rent.
Best Metro Areas for Home Price Appreciation
Large US metro areas ranked by appreciation score, blending recent home price growth with the risk of an overheated market.
Best Metro Areas to Invest in Real Estate
Large US metro areas ranked by overall investment score, blending cash flow, appreciation, stability, and affordability.
Top 10 metros by cap rate
Shreveport, LA leads at 5.7% on a median price of $186,193.
| # | Metro area | Cap rate | Median price | Median rent | Population | Analyze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shreveport, LA | 5.7% | $186,193 | $1,348 | 365,136 | Run numbers |
| 2 | Beaumont, TX | 5.6% | $185,608 | $1,332 | 396,279 | Run numbers |
| 3 | Brownsville, TX | 5.5% | $207,150 | $1,460 | 421,854 | Run numbers |
| 4 | Peoria, IL | 5.3% | $172,742 | $1,179 | 312,462 | Run numbers |
| 5 | Lafayette, LA | 5.3% | $202,312 | $1,371 | 364,989 | Run numbers |
| 6 | Jackson, MS | 5.3% | $215,136 | $1,450 | 492,983 | Run numbers |
| 7 | Mobile, AL | 5.2% | $197,857 | $1,323 | 413,878 | Run numbers |
| 8 | Lubbock, TX | 5.2% | $213,766 | $1,420 | 311,509 | Run numbers |
| 9 | Pittsburgh, PA | 5.2% | $231,356 | $1,527 | 2,299,963 | Run numbers |
| 10 | Montgomery, AL | 5.1% | $214,099 | $1,402 | 374,587 | Run numbers |
Go a level deeper
A metro average hides big differences between the counties inside it. County rankings show where within a metro the numbers actually work.