All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Cookeville, TN
Cookeville merits selective investigation by yield-focused buyers, but investors dependent on near-term rent growth or easy appreciation should avoid it.
Median price$300k
Median rent$1,554
Gross yield6.2%
Job growth▲ 0.8%
Composite Market ScoreRank #487 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Cookeville, TN?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,554 per month for 2026-06-30. That is down 1.58% 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 Cookeville
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam County, TNFIPS 47141 | $752 | $818 | $1,014 | $1,409 | $1,557 |
| White County, TNFIPS 47185 | $751 | $756 | $992 | $1,240 | $1,579 |
| Overton County, TNFIPS 47133 | $724 | $742 | $925 | $1,165 | $1,225 |
| Jackson County, TNFIPS 47087 | $700 | $705 | $925 | $1,217 | $1,289 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Cookeville merits selective investigation by yield-focused buyers, but investors dependent on near-term rent growth or easy appreciation should avoid it. The median home value is $299,737, median asking rent is $1,554, and gross yield is 6.22%.
The opportunity is modest job growth of 0.75% and net migration of 679 households. The tension is that asking rent fell 1.58% while home values rose 2.65%, weakening the income case for buyers paying current prices.
Execution risk is also visible: supply is 4.5 months, homes take 74 days to sell, and 26.07% record price drops. Buyers should underwrite flood exposure and negotiate carefully rather than rely on rent or resale gains.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Does current rent support the purchase price?
Median asking rent is $1,554 against a $299,737 median home value, producing a 6.22% gross yield before expenses.
Is household movement adding demand?
Tax filings show 3,464 households moved in and 2,785 moved out, for net migration of 679.
How active are investors in the market?
Non-occupants account for 7.05% of purchase mortgages; the record reports 1,461 total purchases.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 6.2%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▼ 1.58%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 7.0%
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 Cookeville as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
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 supply4.5 mo.▲ from 3.4 mo. a year ago
Median days on market74 days▲ from 71 days a year ago
Listings with price drops26.1%▼ from 27.4% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio96.9%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 2.6%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▼ 1.58%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.2%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.8%LAUS · 12m to 2026-05
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 steady33→33
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.
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
33| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 75 | 30% | 22.50 |
| Rent trend | 3 | 25% | 0.75 |
| Affordability | 8 | 15% | 1.20 |
| Supply pressure | 11 | 15% | 1.65 |
| Climate risk | 48 | 15% | 7.20 |
| Published score | 33 | ||
Cookeville, TN scoreRank #487
33Job growth75/100
Job: LAUS employment grew 0.75% -> labor demand offers some support, but growth is limited.
Rent trend3/100
Rent: Asking rent fell 1.58% -> current rent momentum does not support aggressive income-growth assumptions.
Affordability8/100
Afford: Rent consumes 33.66% of median household income -> tenant affordability may constrain rent increases.
Supply pressure11/100
Supply: Inventory stands at 4.5 months and 26.07% of listings have price drops -> buyers may have negotiating room, but resale conditions are soft.
Climate risk48/100
Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with a 0.1454% annual building-value loss ratio -> property-level flood exposure requires scrutiny.
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
$300k
YoY ▲ 2.6%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,554
YoY ▼ 1.58%
Gross Rental Yield
6.2%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,554 × 12 ÷ $299,737
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.8%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 75/100
Median Household Income
$55k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
33.7%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
5.4x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$959
Market rent 162.1% 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$1,554Primary 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 ↗$749−$805 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 ↗$959−$596 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 ↗$885−$669 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 Cookeville as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
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
1,136 units authorised in 2026, 37% 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
+679
3,464 in vs 2,785 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 19.6% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$11,565
Arriving $61,531 vs leaving $49,966
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
7.0%
103 of 1,461 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.145% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Cumberland County · Davidson County · DeKalb County · Warren County · Wilson County
✓ 3,464 in − 2,785 out = 679 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
- Nashville, TN373 arriving
- Crossville, TN198 arriving
- McMinnville, TN91 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Nashville, TN387 leaving
- Crossville, TN199 leaving
- Knoxville, TN72 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
- Asking rents could remain weak after a 1.58% decline.
- Home values may not hold if long marketing times and frequent price reductions persist.
- Inland flooding could produce property losses and affect ownership costs.
Inside this micro 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.
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Cookeville
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookeville, TN (Target) | 33 | $300k | $1,554 | 6.2% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Statesboro, GA | 50 | $285k | $1,509 | 6.3% | ▲ 0.7% |
| Hot Springs, AR | 58 | $250k | $1,334 | 6.4% | ▲ 0.6% |
| Clearlake, CA | 47 | $312k | $1,666 | 6.4% | ▲ 0.6% |
| Branson, MO | 47 | $252k | $1,313 | 6.3% | ▲ 0.9% |
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 |