State rental market analysis · KY
Kentucky rental markets
18 tracked cities over 20,000 population, 18 ranked and summarized by their median Overall. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. All states ranked →
Browse every Kentucky ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the East South Central Census division (South region).
The honest read
Kentucky ranks #26 of 51 states for rental investing, with a median Overall of 48.2/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 18 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 18 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 | 6.1% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.5% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 4.8% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.6% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.2% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 4.4× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.9% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 43% renters · 524.6% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.9% | not measured |
Every city in Kentucky, ranked
Led by Georgetown at 72/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| KY rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgetown | 72 | B | B | B | $342,804 | 5.4% | #38 |
| 2 | Nicholasville | 67 | B | B | B | $328,028 | 5.7% | #108 |
| 3 | Independence | 64 | A | C | C | $331,613 | 7.5% | #175 |
| 4 | Florence | 61 | B | C | C | $290,152 | 6.4% | #288 |
| 5 | Covington | 60 | A | C | C | $222,725 | 8.7% | #299 |
| 6 | Paducah | 57 | A | C | C | $190,460 | 7.0% | #419 |
| 7 med | Jeffersontown | 54 | A | D | B | $236,800 | 6.3% | #585 |
| 8 | Lexington-Fayette | 52 | C | C | C | $334,819 | 5.6% | #653 |
| 9 | Owensboro | 49 | B | D | C | $214,982 | 6.5% | #830 |
| 10 | Bowling Green | 48 | C | B | D | $286,937 | 5.3% | #871 |
| 11 | Frankfort | 48 | C | D | B | $248,111 | 5.0% | #874 |
| 12 | Louisville/Jefferson County | 46 | B | D | D | $265,579 | 6.2% | #982 |
| 13 | Richmond | 46 | D | C | C | $303,282 | 4.7% | #987 |
| 14 | Elizabethtown | 46 | B | C | D | $269,307 | 5.7% | #996 |
| 15 med | Ashland | 45 | A | D | C | $129,143 | 8.2% | #1028 |
| 16 | Radcliff | 41 | B | D | D | $213,512 | 5.9% | #1221 |
| 17 | Hopkinsville | 37 | B | F | D | $195,043 | 6.5% | #1403 |
| 18 med | Henderson | 36 | B | F | C | $206,782 | 6.2% | #1468 |
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 Kentucky
779 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Kentucky · 338 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Kentucky 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 Kentucky
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical KY state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Kentucky city table and not directly comparable to it.
| KY rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 40324Georgetown | A 78#7 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #2 | 40356Nicholasville | A 75#74 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #3 | 41042Florence | A 70#491 nat | 7.3%Survey yield |
| #4 | 40065Shelbyville | A 70#579 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
| #5 | 42101Bowling Green | A 69#677 nat | 5.5%Survey yield |
| #6 | 42164Scottsville | A 68#821 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #7 | 40390Wilmore | A 68#845 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| #8 | 42127Cave City | A 67#992 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #9 | 41035Dry Ridge | A 67#1,009 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| #10 | 40370Sadieville | A 67#1,071 nat | 5.4%Survey yield |
| #11 | 42104Bowling Green | A 67#1,093 nat | 4.0%Survey yield |
| #12 | 40475Richmond | A 67#1,205 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Kentucky
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 | 41642 | 98#36 nat | 12.0%Survey yield |
| 2 | 42367Powderly | 94#152 nat | 9.0%Survey yield |
| 3 | 42337Drakesboro | 93#212 nat | 9.3%Survey yield |
| 4 | 41862 | 91#297 nat | 8.7%Survey yield |
| 5 | 42782 | 90#362 nat | 11.4%Survey yield |
| 6 | 40769Williamsburg | 89#416 nat | 9.6%Survey yield |
| 7 | 40155Muldraugh | 89#437 nat | 13.8%Survey yield |
| 8 | 40740 | 88#468 nat | 7.9%Survey yield |
| 9 | 42567Eubank | 87#561 nat | 9.1%Survey yield |
| 10 | 40313 | 87#584 nat | 10.3%Survey yield |
| 11 | 41522Elkhorn City | 86#655 nat | 11.6%Survey yield |
| 12 | 40078Willisburg | 85#742 nat | 6.8%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Kentucky
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 | 42127Cave City | 80#253 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 2 | 41240Paintsville | 80#278 nat | 5.5%Survey yield |
| 3 | 41014Covington | 79#368 nat | 7.6%Survey yield |
| 4 | 40823Cumberland | 79#382 nat | 10.8%Survey yield |
| 5 | 40218Louisville/Jefferson County metro government | 78#421 nat | 6.8%Survey yield |
| 6 | 40831Harlan | 78#434 nat | 8.3%Survey yield |
| 7 | 41008Carrollton | 78#510 nat | 7.4%Survey yield |
| 8 | 40502Lexington-Fayette urban county | 77#662 nat | 2.5%Survey yield |
| 9 | 42054 | 76#711 nat | 8.2%Survey yield |
| 10 | 40517Lexington-Fayette urban county | 76#827 nat | 6.3%Survey yield |
| 11 | 40504Lexington-Fayette urban county | 75#996 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 12 | 40507Lexington-Fayette urban county | 75#996 nat | 3.1%Survey yield |