How Many Rentals for $15K/month?
Target: $15,000 in monthly rental cash flow after mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancy. That’s $180,000 annually. Below is the real math using median-priced single-family homes across the 19 cash-flow-positive US metros.
The math for $15K/month
Across the 19 US metros where a median-priced single-family rental models out to positive cash flow, the median produces about $50/month in cash flow after a 20% down conventional loan, 30-year amortization, and 35% operating expenses. Metros where the modeled deal loses money at the median are excluded from that figure.
To reach $15,000/month you need roughly 302 median-cash-flow doors. In a stronger-cash-flow market you need fewer; in a coastal metro you often need many more (or a different strategy entirely: short-term rentals, small multifamily, or heavy value-add).
The number is a planning baseline, not a forecast. Actual per-unit cash flow depends on the specific property, financing, and management.
Highest cash-flow-per-door markets
Ranked by modeled monthly cash flow on a median-priced single-family purchase. The units column shows what it takes to hit $15K/month there specifically.
| Market | Median price | Median rent | CF / mo | Units for $15K | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian, MS | $124,819 | $1,355 | $226 | 67 | $1.9M |
| Woodward, OK | $131,309 | $1,313 | $165 | 92 | $2.8M |
| Roanoke Rapids, NC | $107,523 | $1,077 | $136 | 111 | $2.7M |
| Houghton, MI | $194,696 | $1,733 | $106 | 142 | $6.4M |
| Blytheville, AR | $115,156 | $1,064 | $88 | 172 | $4.6M |
| Big Spring, TX | $150,742 | $1,340 | $81 | 186 | $6.4M |
These are metros with the strongest rent-to-price at the median. Higher cash flow often correlates with slower appreciation, lower population growth, or higher vacancy. Underwrite the specific property before buying, not the metro median.
What $15K/month actually looks like
At a median cash flow of $50/door, a 302-unit portfolio at $15K/month typically requires:
- $9.1M in cash across down payments and closing costs
- A financing mix: first 20 properties are usually conventional Fannie/Freddie; beyond that most investors move to DSCR or portfolio loans
- Third-party property management or a small in-house team by unit 10-15
- Reserve capital of 3-6 months of PITI per property, separate from acquisition capital above
Track your path to $15K/month
The Pro Portfolio Tracker rolls up every property you underwrite and shows the running total against your income goal. It uses the same Zillow ZHVI/ZORI data on this page to revalue properties monthly, so your progress reflects the real market.
- • Aggregate cash flow, cap rate and cash-on-cash across every property you own
- • Auto-revalue against your metro’s Zillow data every month
- • Alerts at each equity milestone ($100K, $250K, $500K, $1M) so you know when refinance windows open
- • PDF and Excel exports for lenders and partners
Methodology
Median home price and median rent are pulled from the latest Zillow ZHVI/ZORI feed across US CBSA metros with complete data. The modeled deal on each metro assumes 20% down, 3% closing costs, a 30-year conventional at 6.85%, and total operating expenses (property tax, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management) at 35% of gross rent. Monthly cash flow is rent minus mortgage minus operating expenses. The medians and market rankings on this page are computed over the 19 metros where that modeled deal produces positive cash flow; metros where it loses money at the median are excluded.