State rental market analysis · AL
Alabama rental markets
32 tracked cities over 20,000 population, 32 ranked and summarized by their median Overall. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. All states ranked →
Browse every Alabama ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the East South Central Census division (South region).
The honest read
Alabama ranks #2 of 51 states for rental investing, with a median Overall of 60.3/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 32 ranked cities roll up into this grade.
A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 32 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 7.3% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.0% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 3.0% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.9% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 1.0% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 3.9× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 2.4% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 40% renters · 625.6% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.8% | not measured |
Every city in Alabama, ranked
Led by Prattville at 79/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| AL rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prattville | 79 | A | B | B | $267,496 | 7.9% | #10 |
| 2 | Northport | 79 | A | B | A | $272,378 | 7.4% | #11 |
| 3 | Madison | 79 | B | A | A | $378,797 | 4.6% | #12 |
| 4 med | Albertville | 77 | A | B | A | $215,897 | 6.2% | #16 |
| 5 | Pelham | 74 | A | B | A | $328,477 | 6.4% | #21 |
| 6 | Foley | 74 | B | A | B | $307,017 | 6.7% | #23 |
| 7 | Alabaster | 74 | A | C | A | $308,363 | 7.3% | #24 |
| 8 | Helena | 73 | A | B | B | $367,018 | 6.4% | #29 |
| 9 | Fairhope | 72 | B | B | A | $473,256 | 5.3% | #45 |
| 10 | Tuscaloosa | 68 | B | B | B | $232,816 | 7.2% | #77 |
| 11 | Athens | 68 | B | B | B | $311,050 | 5.7% | #84 |
| 12 | Huntsville | 68 | B | B | C | $290,453 | 5.5% | #90 |
| 13 | Enterprise | 68 | A | C | C | $211,606 | 8.3% | #91 |
| 14 | Opelika | 66 | B | B | B | $310,676 | 5.7% | #142 |
| 15 | Decatur | 64 | B | C | B | $223,492 | 5.9% | #161 |
| 16 | Daphne | 63 | B | B | C | $332,942 | 5.6% | #190 |
| 17 | Oxford | 60 | A | D | B | $198,245 | 7.0% | #305 |
| 18 | Florence | 60 | B | C | C | $218,838 | 6.7% | #316 |
| 19 | Auburn | 59 | C | B | C | $423,354 | 5.0% | #333 |
| 20 | Dothan | 59 | A | C | C | $207,985 | 7.3% | #347 |
| 21 | Trussville | 57 | B | C | C | $401,735 | 4.6% | #434 |
| 22 | Mobile | 56 | A | D | B | $199,226 | 7.8% | #473 |
| 23 | Anniston | 52 | A | D | C | $146,803 | 8.1% | #659 |
| 24 | Phenix City | 51 | A | D | C | $212,499 | 7.9% | #710 |
| 25 | Bessemer | 47 | A | F | C | $133,398 | 12.9% | #940 |
| 26 | Hoover | 47 | C | D | B | $443,268 | 3.7% | #943 |
| 27 | Montgomery | 45 | A | F | C | $152,082 | 10.6% | #1021 |
| 28 | Birmingham | 43 | A | F | C | $137,168 | 11.9% | #1122 |
| 29 | Vestavia Hills | 42 | D | D | C | $573,031 | 4.3% | #1203 |
| 30 | Gadsden | 42 | A | F | B | $116,676 | 8.5% | #1209 |
| 31 | Homewood | 38 | F | C | B | $577,183 | 3.0% | #1370 |
| 32 | Mountain Brook | 28 | F | D | C | $1,068,731 | 2.9% | #1691 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2019–2023 · Census PEP July 2024 · BLS LAUS county 2023 annual. Generated 2026-09-01. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
ZIP markets in Alabama
656 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Alabama · 410 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Alabama city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), a newer release than the ACS 2019–2023 figures the city table above uses; the same measure can legitimately disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Alabama
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical AL state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Alabama city table and not directly comparable to it.
| AL rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 35758Madison | A 81#2 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #2 | 35806Huntsville | A 78#10 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| #3 | 36066Prattville | A 77#19 nat | 7.2%Survey yield |
| #4 | 36526Daphne | A 77#22 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #5 | 35749Harvest | A 75#46 nat | 6.1%Survey yield |
| #6 | 35757Huntsville | A 75#53 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #7 | 35756Huntsville | A 74#103 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| #7 | 36551Loxley | A 74#103 nat | 5.5%Survey yield |
| #9 | 35611Athens | A 73#155 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
| #10 | 35405Tuscaloosa | A 73#166 nat | 5.4%Survey yield |
| #11 | 35004Moody | A 73#176 nat | 8.3%Survey yield |
| #12 | 35810Huntsville | A 72#253 nat | 9.0%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Alabama
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36782Sweet Water | 99#16 nat | 16.5%Survey yield |
| 2 | 36110Montgomery | 99#17 nat | 13.6%Survey yield |
| 3 | 36785White Hall | 99#21 nat | 13.0%Survey yield |
| 4 | 36005Banks | 98#23 nat | 12.4%Survey yield |
| 5 | 36432Castleberry | 98#29 nat | 13.3%Survey yield |
| 6 | 36105Montgomery | 98#30 nat | 13.8%Survey yield |
| 7 | 36108Montgomery | 98#31 nat | 13.1%Survey yield |
| 8 | 36040White Hall | 98#38 nat | 11.6%Survey yield |
| 9 | 36343Gordon | 98#40 nat | 11.0%Survey yield |
| 10 | 36758 | 98#44 nat | 10.6%Survey yield |
| 11 | 36908Gilbertown | 98#44 nat | 10.6%Survey yield |
| 12 | 35580Parrish | 97#47 nat | 11.2%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Alabama
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36606Mobile | 81#134 nat | 6.8%Survey yield |
| 2 | 36610Prichard | 79#329 nat | 16.0%Survey yield |
| 3 | 36509Bayou La Batre | 76#759 nat | 11.1%Survey yield |
| 4 | 36607Mobile | 76#803 nat | 6.9%Survey yield |
| 5 | 36605Mobile | 75#855 nat | 12.9%Survey yield |
| 6 | 35073Graysville | 75#906 nat | 10.7%Survey yield |
| 7 | 35476Northport | 75#964 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 8 | 35211Birmingham | 74#1,163 nat | 12.8%Survey yield |
| 9 | 35207Birmingham | 73#1,242 nat | 11.8%Survey yield |
| 10 | 35988Sylvania | 73#1,263 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 11 | 36201Anniston | 73#1,375 nat | 10.8%Survey yield |
| 12 | 36617Mobile | 71#1,627 nat | 17.0%Survey yield |