All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Key West, FL
Key West merits investigation only for well-capitalized buyers who can accept a $966,271 median home value and a 4.12% gross yield.
Median price$966k
Median rent$3,320
Gross yield4.1%
Job growth▼ 1.4%
Composite Market ScoreRank #562 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Key West, FL?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $3,320 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 2.78% 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 Key West
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe County, FLFIPS 12087 | $1,726 | $2,211 | $2,504 | $3,303 | $3,315 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Key West merits investigation only for well-capitalized buyers who can accept a $966,271 median home value and a 4.12% gross yield. Buyers dependent on strong current income or unwilling to underwrite hurricane wind exposure should avoid it; net operating income is not published.
Opportunity lies in rent resilience: asking rent rose 2.78% while home values slipped 0.84%. But demand support is mixed: jobs fell 1.35% and net migration was -411 households. That combination argues for deal-specific demand evidence rather than reliance on broad market momentum.
Affordability is the central constraint, with price at 11.01 times income and rent absorbing 45.41% of income. For-sale conditions offer room to compare: 6.7 months of supply, 109 median days on market and a 22.4% price-drop share. Against that flexibility, the 0.474% annual building-value loss ratio keeps asset-level risk diligence central.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Is the published yield a net return?
No. The record publishes a 4.12% gross yield; net operating income and expense details are not published.
What do tax-filing migration flows show?
There were 3,303 inbound households and 3,714 outbound households, producing net migration of -411. Average AGI was $171,960 for inbound movers and $104,575 for outbound movers, a $67,385 gap.
How much investor participation is reported?
Non-occupants represented 20.22% of purchase mortgages, and the record lists 920 total purchases.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 4.1%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 2.78%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 20.2%
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 Key West 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 supply6.7 mo.▼ from 8.3 mo. a year ago
Median days on market109 days▼ from 110 days a year ago
Listings with price drops22.4%▼ from 26.5% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio94.1%2026-05-01
Home value growth▼ 0.8%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 2.78%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield4.1%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 1.4%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 steady19→19
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 64% and rents 52%. 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
19| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 18 | 30% | 5.40 |
| Rent trend | 41 | 25% | 10.25 |
| Affordability | 1 | 15% | 0.15 |
| Supply pressure | 18 | 15% | 2.70 |
| Climate risk | 2 | 15% | 0.30 |
| Published score | 19 | ||
Key West, FL scoreRank #562
19Job growth18/100
Jobs fell 1.35% year over year -> employment support weakened over the measured period.
Rent trend41/100
Asking rent rose 2.78% while gross yield was 4.12% -> positive rent growth coexists with modest headline income relative to value.
Affordability1/100
Price-to-income is 11.01 and rent-to-income is 45.41% -> ownership and renting are both heavily burdened relative to local income.
Supply pressure18/100
Supply is 6.7 months, median market time is 109 days and the price-drop share is 22.4% -> buyers have multiple signs of negotiating room.
Climate risk2/100
Hurricane wind is the dominant hazard and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.474% -> asset-level exposure remains a core underwriting issue.
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
$966k
YoY ▼ 0.8%
ZORI Median Rent
$3,320
YoY ▲ 2.78%
Gross Rental Yield
4.1%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$3,320 × 12 ÷ $966,271
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 1.4%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 18/100
Median Household Income
$88k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
45.4%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
11.0x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$2,504
Market rent 132.6% 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$3,320Primary 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 ↗$2,211−$1,109 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 ↗$2,504−$816 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 ↗$1,999−$1,321 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 Key West 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
218 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ 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
−411
3,303 in vs 3,714 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 12.4% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$67,385
Arriving $171,960 vs leaving $104,575
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
20.2%
186 of 920 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
hurricane
0.474% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: wind
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Miami-Dade County · Broward County · Palm Beach County · Lee County · Orange County
✓ 3,303 in − 3,714 out = -411 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
- Miami, FL696 arriving
- Tampa, FL83 arriving
- Cape Coral, FL61 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Miami, FL596 leaving
- Tampa, FL163 leaving
- Orlando, FL139 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 contraction and negative tax-filing migration leave the demand backdrop unsupportive.
- High purchase and rent burdens relative to local income constrain affordability.
- Hurricane wind exposure is paired with a 0.474% annual building-value loss ratio.
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.
County records
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Key West
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key West, FL (Target) | 19 | $966k | $3,320 | 4.1% | ▼ 1.4% |
| San Luis Obispo, CA | 18 | $911k | $2,835 | 3.7% | ▼ 1.3% |
| Breckenridge, CO | 23 | $985k | $3,337 | 4.1% | ▼ 1.5% |
| Bozeman, MT | 29 | $708k | $2,237 | 3.8% | ▼ 0.2% |
| Bend, OR | 37 | $672k | $2,205 | 3.9% | ▼ 0.4% |
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 |