Dayton, OH
Photo: Blervis · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons · Wikipedia

Rental market · Dayton, OH · Incorporated city

Dayton, OH: average rent, home values, and rental yield

East North Central · Population 136,741

B52.7
#626 of 1,863 ranked markets
Overall Score 52.7 · stronger than 66% of ranked markets

How Dayton ranks nationally

Each bar places Dayton against all 1,863 ranked U.S. markets: the marker is this city and further right is more favorable to an investor; the tick marks the national median. Inverted measures (crime, vacancy, price-to-income) are already flipped so higher always means better here.

Overall Scorethe flagship rank
52.766th percentile
Cash Flowyield & affordability
9597th percentile
Growthpopulation, jobs, income
4134th percentile
Stabilitycrime, vacancy, unemployment
3619th percentile
Expense-adjusted yield6.2% net of costs
9797th percentile
Affordabilityprice-to-income 3.2×
91more affordable than 91%
Rental vacancy4.5% vacant
52tighter than 52%
Population growth-0.3%/yr (capped)
1515th percentile
Job growth0.2%/yr (capped)
2323rd percentile
← Less favorableMedianMore favorable →

What a deal looks like here

A market-level buy-box for Dayton, built from this market's own numbers: the investor-entry price, its rent, and local carrying costs. An illustrative scenario, not a listing.

Target buy price
$71,495
Expected rent
$1,245 /mo
Rent-to-price
1.74%
Cap rate
13.8%
Cash-on-cash
28.0% at 25% dn
DSCR
2.31

At 25% down and 7%, this representative scenario runs positive (about $466/mo cash flow) on the investor-entry price.

Buy target = Zillow Bottom-Tier ZHVI (5th–35th percentile) $71,495; typical home value $138,730. Rent = Zillow ZORI typical asking rent. Assumptions: 25% down, 7% / 30-yr, 5% vacancy, 8% management, 5% maintenance, 5% capex, 0.5% insurance, 1.78% property tax. Illustrative market-level scenario: not a listing, appraisal, recommendation, or underwriting decision. As of 2026-07-10.

Market Negotiation Leverage

Some buyer leverage (76th percentile among 2,222 cities with Redfin coverage)

Equal-weight composite of three Redfin signals’ national percentiles (days on market 46, months of supply 3.7, sale-to-list 97.0%), direction-adjusted so a higher percentile always means more room for a buyer to negotiate. This is a cross-sectional snapshot against every other tracked city today, not a seasonal or historical baseline for this specific city (no multi-year time series is committed for this data). Not a prediction of what any specific seller will accept. Source: Redfin Data Center. See how this is calculated.

Measured market data

Measured observations for Dayton, shown as context beside the market score (none of it feeds the score), and the model weights are unchanged. These are different measurements from the Census figures in the factor table: the ACS median value is what owners report in a 5-year survey, while ZHVI is a monthly index of typical value; ACS median gross rent is what sitting tenants pay including utilities, while ZORI indexes asking rent on newly listed units. Neither corrects the other. Monthly series, revised in recent months, observed 2026-07, not live.

Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI, mid tier)$138,730
ZHVI bottom tier (5th–35th pct)$71,495
ZHVI top tier (65th–95th pct)$269,916
ZHVI, single-family only$136,335
Zillow asking-rent index (ZORI)$1,245/mo
Measured gross yield (ZORI × 12 ÷ ZHVI)10.77%
Market heat index52
Median days to pending10
Share of listings with a price cut28.0%
Median sale-to-list ratio99.4%
For-sale inventory724
New listings296
Median list price$158,267
Median sale price$165,000
Measured 3-yr value growth3.68%/yr
Measured 5-yr value growth4.67%/yr
Measured 3-yr rent growth4.50%/yr
Price–rent divergence (value − rent growth)-0.82%/yr
ZHVI, 1-bedroom$67,440
ZHVI, 2-bedroom$96,282
ZHVI, 3-bedroom$147,706
ZHVI, 4-bedroom$257,318
ZHVI, 5-bedroom$317,968

Source: Zillow Economic Research public research data, observation month 2026-07. Zillow is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Compounding Estates.

Typical home value $138,730 Median rent $1,245/mo Population 136,741 Region East North Central

Price & rent history

Home value $55,409 → $138,730 (2000-01–2026-07) · Asking rent $651 → $1,245 (2015-01–2026-07)

Source: Zillow ZHVI (home value) and ZORI (asking rent) - monthly resolution for the last ~10 years (since 2016-08), quarterly before that. Home value uses the left axis, rent the right; toggle either series, change the range, hover to read any point. Gaps in the source series are left as gaps - never interpolated.

ZIP markets in Dayton

21 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) officially overlap Dayton by land area · 18 data-eligible for subscores. Overlap is Census land-area share, not a population or address share. Each ZIP Code's overall Rental Investor ZIP Score, grade and canonical national rank are shown below (the two component signals, affordability and rental market, are separate percentiles). There is no city-scoped ZIP rank: city overlap isn't a ranking universe, so only the national rank is shown. These ZIP rankings sit in the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, Dayton's city ranking. Vintage: the Key metric column below is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), a full survey release newer than the ACS 2019–2023 figures used above for Dayton itself, so the same measure can legitimately show a different number at the city and ZIP level.

ZIP CodeOverallgrade · natl rankTier · overlapAffordabilitysignal · natl rankRental marketsignal · natl rankKey metric
45402Dayton F 28#17,278 nat RankedPrimary 57#6,704 of 20,132 · top 33% 61#5,054 of 20,132 · top 25% 9.0%Survey yield
45403Dayton D 38#13,635 nat RankedPrimary 56#6,895 of 20,132 · top 34% 78#456 of 20,132 · top 2% 10.7%Survey yield
45423Dayton LimitedPrimary
45428Dayton ProfilePrimary
45469Dayton LimitedPrimary
45410Dayton D 42#12,354 nat RankedPrimary 55#7,374 of 20,132 · top 37% 58#6,041 of 20,132 · top 30% 10.7%Survey yield
45406Dayton C 50#8,644 nat RankedPrimary 57#6,574 of 20,132 · top 33% 60#5,243 of 20,132 · top 26% 13.3%Survey yield
45404Dayton C 44#11,597 nat RankedPrimary 56#6,895 of 20,132 · top 34% 82#118 of 20,132 · top 1% 12.2%Survey yield
45405Dayton C 47#9,899 nat RankedPrimary 54#7,845 of 20,132 · top 39% 55#7,670 of 20,132 · top 38% 13.3%Survey yield
45414Dayton D 40#12,991 nat RankedPrimary 37#14,907 of 20,132 · bottom 26% 66#3,209 of 20,132 · top 16% 6.0%Survey yield
45417Dayton C 50#8,275 nat RankedPrimary 59#6,085 of 20,132 · top 30% 57#6,665 of 20,132 · top 33% 14.5%Survey yield
45420Kettering B 57#4,891 nat Ranked37% overlap 51#9,214 of 20,132 · top 46% 72#1,495 of 20,132 · top 7% 9.0%Survey yield
View all 21 ZIP markets in Dayton →

The honest read

Dayton scores 53/100 overall (grade B): 95 for Cash Flow, 41 for Growth, and 36 for Stability, each a 0–100 score built from the factors in that category. The scenario above shows what a representative investor-entry purchase pencils out to at today's rates. Everything we can measure is in the table below, with its source.

Every factor, shown

The Overall score blends three category scores built from thirteen measured factors: Cash Flow (35%), Growth (35%), and Stability (30%). The table shows every factor; the tag on each percentile marks which category a scored factor feeds. Untagged factors are shown for context but not scored. Every value carries its source and as-of date. How the score works.

FactorValueNational percentileSource · as-ofWhat it means
Expense-adjusted yield6.2%97th percentile · Cash FlowZillow ZORI/ZHVI · 2026-07-31Annual rent divided by price, net of a modeled vacancy, tax, capex, and management allowance: the core of the Cash Flow category and what the score is actually computed from. The unadjusted gross yield is shown elsewhere on this page.
Price to income3.2x91st percentile · Cash FlowZillow + ACS income · 2026-07-31Home price over local median income. Lower is cheaper relative to what people earn. Part of the Cash Flow category.
Population growth-0.3%/yr15th percentile · GrowthCensus PEP · Census PEP 2020→2024 (vintage 2024) + Census PEP 2014→2024 (vintages 2019+2024)Census population trend for the place, capped at 4.5%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate): the heaviest factor in the Growth category.
Job growth0.2%/yr23rd percentile · GrowthBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2019→2023 (pre-COVID anchor) + BLS LAUS county annual 2013→2023County employment trend, capped at 4.0%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate). A Growth-category factor.
Income growth7.5%/yr84th percentile · GrowthCensus ACS · ACS 5-yr 2019-2023Local median-income trend. A Growth-category factor.
Rent growth5.6%/yr89th percentile · GrowthZillow ZORI · 3yr + 10yr to 2026-07-31A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year rent trend (the model's own weighting). A Growth-category factor.
Home-value growth7.3%/yr96th percentile · GrowthZillow ZHVI · 3yr + 10yr to 2026-07-31A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year price trend (the model's own weighting). A small Growth-category factor.
Unemployment3.9%31st percentile · StabilityBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2023County unemployment rate. Lower is steadier, a Stability-category factor.
Rental vacancy4.5%52nd percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25004 · ACS 5-yr 2019-2023Share of rentals empty. Lower means more pricing power. A Stability-category factor.
Property tax rate1.8%17th percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25103/B25077 · ACS 5-yr 2019-2023Median tax over median value. A direct drag on cash flow, scored in the Stability category as carrying-cost burden.
Months of supply3.7 mo27th percentile · StabilityRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01Listings over sales pace. Under about 4 is a seller market, over 6 a buyer market. A Stability-category factor.
Days on market46 days33rd percentileRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01How fast homes sell. Lower means more liquidity and an easier exit. Shown for context, not scored.
Sale-to-list ratio97.0%12th percentileRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01Sale price over asking. Above 100% means homes clear over ask. Shown for context, not scored.
Net domestic migration-0.0/1k59th percentileCensus PEP (county) · PEP vintage 2024Net people moving in or out of the county, per 1,000 residents. Shown for context, not scored.
Building permits6.2/1k76th percentileCensus BPS (county) · BPS 2023New-construction permits per 1,000 homes. More means more supply coming. Shown for context, not scored.
Rent burden31%48th percentileCensus ACS B25071 · ACS 5-yr 2019-2023Median rent as a share of income. Higher means less headroom for increases. Shown for context, not scored.
Median year built19515th percentileCensus ACS B25035 · ACS 5-yr 2019-2023Age of the housing stock. Older stock carries more capex. Shown for context, not scored.
Max drawdown24%52nd percentileZillow ZHVI · 2026-07-31Worst peak-to-trough home-value decline on record. Shown for context, not scored.
Violent crimenot reported-FBI CDENo agency reported this place to the FBI. We never impute a crime number; where it is missing, the Stability category renormalizes over its remaining factors.

Related cities

Nearby in the Ohio rankings · all Ohio cities

Similar overall grade, elsewhere in the country

Compare Dayton head-to-head

Side by side, the three category scores plus every measured column with sources - the same shown math as this page.

Underwrite a Dayton deal

For learning, not advice. A market screen from public data - not a forecast, not underwriting, not a recommendation to buy anywhere.