A metro is an average of its counties, and the spread inside one can be wider than the gap between two metros. Every single county is joined on its FIPS code directly to the agency that published the figure.
These lists keep unlike measures separate: IRS household tax-return flows are not blended with FEMA’s modeled building-loss ratio.
IRS SOI tax-return households, sorted by moved in minus moved out.
FEMA NRI building-loss ratio, limited to counties with at least 250,000 residents.
Only the 1,351 counties with a published rent index can be ranked this way. High yield usually means a low price base, not a strong market — open a county to see what its hazard profile and migration look like.
| # | County | Population | Median Home Value | Median Rent | Gross Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lauderdale County, MS | 71,504 | $127k | $1,412 | 13.4% |
| 2 | Halifax County, NC | 47,675 | $104k | $1,137 | 13.1% |
| 3 | Woodward County, OK | 20,158 | $139k | $1,508 | 13.0% |
| 4 | Fairfield County, SC | 20,550 | $194k | $2,056 | 12.7% |
| 5 | Hinds County, MS | 218,533 | $133k | $1,305 | 11.8% |
| 6 | Kleberg County, TX | 30,579 | $149k | $1,426 | 11.5% |
| 7 | Jefferson County, AR | 64,802 | $90k | $863 | 11.5% |
| 8 | Baltimore city, MD | 573,243 | $189k | $1,801 | 11.4% |
| 9 | McDonough County, IL | 26,920 | $99k | $919 | 11.1% |
| 10 | Vermilion Parish, LA | 57,123 | $165k | $1,525 | 11.1% |
| 11 | Walker County, AL | 64,841 | $129k | $1,162 | 10.8% |
| 12 | Polk County, TX | 52,800 | $183k | $1,643 | 10.8% |
| 13 | Vermilion County, IL | 72,386 | $99k | $881 | 10.7% |
| 14 | Iberia Parish, LA | 68,599 | $148k | $1,322 | 10.7% |
| 15 | Halifax County, VA | 33,639 | $158k | $1,402 | 10.7% |
| 16 | Houghton County, MI | 37,693 | $196k | $1,736 | 10.6% |
| 17 | Garfield County, OK | 62,146 | $144k | $1,266 | 10.5% |
| 18 | Jackson County, OK | 24,678 | $114k | $980 | 10.3% |
| 19 | Taylor County, TX | 145,863 | $227k | $1,945 | 10.3% |
| 20 | St. Landry Parish, LA | 81,670 | $133k | $1,129 | 10.2% |
| 21 | Robeson County, NC | 116,902 | $140k | $1,187 | 10.2% |
| 22 | Chippewa County, MI | 36,295 | $201k | $1,700 | 10.2% |
| 23 | Montgomery County, KS | 30,940 | $104k | $875 | 10.1% |
| 24 | Dale County, AL | 49,599 | $165k | $1,383 | 10.1% |
| 25 | Danville city, VA | 42,214 | $138k | $1,152 | 10.0% |
Major urban cores and population hubs ranked by resident count, showing price levels, rent indices, and gross yields across America’s largest counties.
| # | County | Population | Median Home Value | Median Rent | Gross Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County, CA | 9,808,667 | $888k | $2,808 | 3.8% |
| 2 | Cook County, IL | 5,182,090 | $343k | $2,336 | 8.2% |
| 3 | Harris County, TX | 4,838,303 | $282k | $1,600 | 6.8% |
| 4 | Maricopa County, AZ | 4,559,748 | $461k | $1,729 | 4.5% |
| 5 | San Diego County, CA | 3,288,774 | $941k | $2,991 | 3.8% |
| 6 | Orange County, CA | 3,165,820 | $1195k | $3,186 | 3.2% |
| 7 | Miami-Dade County, FL | 2,738,356 | $523k | $2,886 | 6.6% |
| 8 | Kings County, NY | 2,631,580 | $957k | $3,808 | 4.8% |
| 9 | Dallas County, TX | 2,621,179 | $312k | $1,646 | 6.3% |
| 10 | Riverside County, CA | 2,478,600 | $609k | $2,591 | 5.1% |
| 11 | Clark County, NV | 2,329,548 | $430k | $1,748 | 4.9% |
| 12 | Queens County, NY | 2,323,052 | $744k | $3,256 | 5.3% |
| 13 | King County, WA | 2,287,171 | $858k | $2,330 | 3.3% |
| 14 | San Bernardino County, CA | 2,197,104 | $554k | $2,489 | 5.4% |
| 15 | Tarrant County, TX | 2,167,390 | $326k | $1,639 | 6.0% |
| 16 | Bexar County, TX | 2,067,341 | $257k | $1,389 | 6.5% |
| 17 | Broward County, FL | 1,977,129 | $424k | $2,517 | 7.1% |
| 18 | Santa Clara County, CA | 1,902,047 | $1624k | $3,732 | 2.8% |
| 19 | Wayne County, MI | 1,772,259 | $181k | $1,423 | 9.4% |
| 20 | Alameda County, CA | 1,649,473 | $1077k | $2,895 | 3.2% |
| 21 | Middlesex County, MA | 1,638,365 | $833k | $3,260 | 4.7% |
| 22 | New York County, NY | 1,629,477 | $1217k | $4,833 | 4.8% |
| 23 | Sacramento County, CA | 1,594,006 | $533k | $2,197 | 5.0% |
| 24 | Philadelphia County, PA | 1,579,706 | $237k | $1,814 | 9.2% |
| 25 | Palm Beach County, FL | 1,533,806 | $473k | $2,662 | 6.8% |
Coverage counts come from the current county rows in Postgres. Open a state to see its metro context and county tables together.