Region · Census East South Central division · South
East South Central rental markets
The interior Deep South. 4 states and 102 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
East South Central ranks #2 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 55.9/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 4 states make up this division.
A region 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 102 ranked cities in this region. The national rank compares all 9 regions 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 | Region value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 6.9% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 3.7% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 3.5% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.8% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.8% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 4.5× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.1% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 43% renters · 661.1% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 5.1% | not measured |
States in the East South Central division
Ranked by median Overall across each state's ranked cities. Each links to its full state analysis, and from there to its cities.
| Div rank | State | Overall score | Grade | Gross yield | Home-value growth | Price-to-income | Ranked cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 | Alabama | 60.3 | A | 7.3% | 3.0% | 3.9× | 32 |
| #9 | Tennessee | 55.7 | B | 6.2% | 3.6% | 5.1× | 32 |
| #21 | Mississippi | 50.6 | B | 9.9% | 1.9% | 3.6× | 20 |
| #26 | Kentucky | 48.2 | C | 6.1% | 4.8% | 4.4× | 18 |
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.