All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Baton Rouge, LA
Baton Rouge merits selective investigation by yield-focused buyers who can price hurricane-wind exposure; investors relying on employment or migration growth should avoid it.
Median price$250k
Median rent$1,403
Gross yield6.7%
Job growth▼ 0.0%
Composite Market ScoreRank #413 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Baton Rouge, LA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,403 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.07% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Baton Rouge
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Baton Rouge Parish, LAFIPS 22033 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| Livingston Parish, LAFIPS 22063 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| Ascension Parish, LAFIPS 22005 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| Iberville Parish, LAFIPS 22047 | $747 | $790 | $866 | $1,204 | $1,453 |
| West Baton Rouge Parish, LAFIPS 22121 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| Assumption Parish, LAFIPS 22007 | $801 | $806 | $967 | $1,345 | $1,556 |
| Pointe Coupee Parish, LAFIPS 22077 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| East Feliciana Parish, LAFIPS 22037 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| West Feliciana Parish, LAFIPS 22125 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
| St. Helena Parish, LAFIPS 22091 | $1,032 | $1,064 | $1,204 | $1,511 | $1,943 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Baton Rouge merits selective investigation by yield-focused buyers who can price hurricane-wind exposure; investors relying on employment or migration growth should avoid it. A $249,747 median value and $1,403 asking rent imply a 6.74% gross yield, while rent rose 3.07%.
The opportunity is moderate affordability and negotiating room. Price-to-income is 3.59, and 30.33% of listings recorded price drops. These conditions may help disciplined buyers, but they do not offset weak demand signals automatically.
Employment slipped 0.02%, and net migration was negative 1,179 households. Supply is not especially tight, with 3.3 months available. The central risk is hurricane wind exposure, reflected in a 0.2586% annual climate loss ratio; property-level insurance, resilience, and pricing require close review.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Does the current rent support an attractive headline yield?
The record reports a $1,403 median asking rent, a $249,747 median home value, and a 6.74% gross yield.
Is household migration supporting demand?
No. Tax filings show 11,466 households moved in and 12,645 moved out, for net migration of negative 1,179.
How much negotiating room is visible?
The record shows 3.3 months of supply, a median 51 days on market, and price drops on 30.33% of listings.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 6.7%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.07%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 8.5%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Baton Rouge as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
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Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply3.3 mo.▼ from 3.6 mo. a year ago
Median days on market51 days▲ from 47 days a year ago
Listings with price drops30.3%▲ from 25.0% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.0%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 1.9%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.07%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.7%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 0.0%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady40→40
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 25% and rents 25%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
40| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 44 | 30% | 13.20 |
| Rent trend | 45 | 25% | 11.25 |
| Affordability | 52 | 15% | 7.80 |
| Supply pressure | 42 | 15% | 6.30 |
| Climate risk | 13 | 15% | 1.95 |
| Published score | 40 | ||
Baton Rouge, LA scoreRank #413
40Job growth44/100
Employment fell 0.02% -> tenant-demand support from job growth is absent.
Rent trend45/100
Asking rent rose 3.07% and gross yield is 6.74% -> current income metrics warrant review, though they do not establish future growth.
Affordability52/100
Rent equals 24.19% of median household income and price-to-income is 3.59 -> housing costs appear comparatively manageable within this record.
Supply pressure42/100
There are 3.3 months of supply and 30.33% of listings had price drops -> buyers may have negotiating room, but inventory is not severely constrained.
Climate risk13/100
The climate loss ratio is 0.2586%, with hurricane wind the dominant hazard -> insurance and physical-risk diligence are central to underwriting.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$250k
YoY ▲ 1.9%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,403
YoY ▲ 3.07%
Gross Rental Yield
6.7%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,403 × 12 ÷ $249,747
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 0.0%
CES payrolls
Job signal 44/100
Median Household Income
$70k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
24.2%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.6x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,204
Market rent 116.5% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,403Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$1,064−$339 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,204−$199 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,135−$268 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Baton Rouge as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Direct local rental evidence
Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Baton Rouge, LA
These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 12940. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.
Direct recent-lease rent history
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Recent-lease rent$1,2012026-07 · +2.1% year over year
Rental vacancy5.9%2026-07 · -0.9 percentage points year over year
Time on marketn/an/a
Measured rent retention
How much of gross yield survives the first two measured deductions?
This bridge subtracts direct rental vacancy and effective property tax only. It is not net yield, NOI, cap rate or property cash flow.
measured retention property tax vacancy
- Gross yield
- 6.7%
- Vacancy
- 5.9%
- Effective tax
- 0.6%
- Retained yield
- 5.8%
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Baton Rouge
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$42,250 median wage
39.8%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$41,720 median wage
40.4%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$24,000 median wage
70.2%
Construction and Extraction Occupations$57,710 median wage
29.2%
Sales and Related Occupations$34,380 median wage
49.0%
Management Occupations$106,010 median wage
15.9%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
3,484 units authorised in 2026, 17% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
−1,179
11,466 in vs 12,645 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 10.3% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$7,052
Arriving $57,032 vs leaving $64,084
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
8.5%
756 of 8,864 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
hurricane
0.259% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: wind
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Tangipahoa Parish · Jefferson Parish · Orleans Parish · Harris County · St. Tammany Parish
✓ 11,466 in − 12,645 out = -1,179 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- New Orleans, LA1,504 arriving
- Hammond, LA856 arriving
- Houston, TX464 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- New Orleans, LA1,147 leaving
- Houston, TX957 leaving
- Hammond, LA813 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- Employment declined, weakening a core source of rental demand.
- Household out-migration exceeded in-migration, and outbound movers had higher average income than inbound movers.
- Hurricane-wind exposure may raise losses or ownership costs, while the record does not publish insurance premiums.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
County · LAEast Baton Rouge Parish$236k home · 7.0% yieldCounty · LALivingston Parish$256k home · 6.9% yieldCounty · LAAscension Parish$310k home · 7.1% yieldCounty · LAIberville Parish$177k home · n/a yieldCounty · LAWest Baton Rouge Parish$254k home · 6.0% yieldCounty · LAAssumption Parish$179k home · n/a yieldCounty · LAPointe Coupee Parish$193k home · n/a yieldCounty · LAEast Feliciana Parish$222k home · n/a yield
Cities in this market
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Baton Rouge
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baton Rouge, LA (Target) | 40 | $250k | $1,403 | 6.7% | ▼ 0.0% |
| Tulsa, OK | 50 | $256k | $1,361 | 6.4% | ▲ 0.1% |
| Little Rock, AR | 42 | $233k | $1,277 | 6.6% | ▲ 0.2% |
| Birmingham, AL | 39 | $264k | $1,462 | 6.7% | ▲ 0.2% |
| Columbia, SC | 37 | $258k | $1,555 | 7.2% | ▲ 0.3% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |