All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Watertown, WI
Watertown merits investigation by affordability-focused buyers who can accept modest current yield; yield-first investors or buyers unwilling to underwrite flood exposure should avoid it.
Median price$372k
Median rent$1,222
Gross yield3.9%
Job growth▼ 0.8%
Composite Market ScoreRank #131 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Watertown, WI?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,222 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 4.05% 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 Watertown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, WIFIPS 55055 | $797 | $917 | $1,156 | $1,530 | $1,536 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Watertown merits investigation by affordability-focused buyers who can accept modest current yield; yield-first investors or buyers unwilling to underwrite flood exposure should avoid it. Median asking rent is $1,222 against a $372,470 home value, producing a 3.94% gross yield.
The opportunity is a renter payment burden of 17.51% of median income, 2.3 months of for-sale supply, and asking-rent growth of 4.05%. Those signals indicate manageable rents and limited available inventory, but they do not establish strong cash flow.
The risk side is weaker: LAUS employment fell 0.77%, while home values rose 5.09%, faster than rents. Net migration was 38 households, and outbound movers had higher average income than inbound movers. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, so each candidate property needs address-level loss and insurance review.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
How does asking rent compare with the published fair-market rent?
Median asking rent is $1,222, compared with a published fair-market rent of $1,156.
What do migration records show?
Tax filings show 2,417 households moved in and 2,379 moved out, for net migration of 38; average mover income was $59,425 inbound and $60,947 outbound, with a recorded gap of -$1,522.
How active are investors in purchases?
The record reports a 5.43% investor share and 865 total purchases.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 3.9%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 4.05%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 5.4%
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 Watertown 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 supply2.3 mo.unchanged from a year ago
Median days on market43 days▲ from 38 days a year ago
Listings with price drops18.9%▼ from 19.9% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio100.2%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 5.1%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 4.05%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield3.9%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 steady61→61
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
61| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 30 | 30% | 9.00 |
| Rent trend | 61 | 25% | 15.25 |
| Affordability | 93 | 15% | 13.95 |
| Supply pressure | 80 | 15% | 12.00 |
| Climate risk | 69 | 15% | 10.35 |
| Published score | 61 | ||
Watertown, WI scoreRank #131
61Job growth30/100
Job: LAUS employment fell 0.77% year over year -> the labor-market signal weakens the rental-demand case.
Rent trend61/100
Rent: Asking rent rose 4.05% to $1,222, but gross yield is 3.94% -> rent momentum is positive while current income return remains modest.
Affordability93/100
Afford: Rent equals 17.51% of median income and home value equals 4.45 times income -> renter affordability is stronger than buyer affordability.
Supply pressure80/100
Supply: The market had 2.3 months of supply and 190 permits -> available inventory and the development pipeline are limited.
Climate risk69/100
Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the climate loss ratio is 0.1189% -> buyers need property-level water-risk and insurance checks.
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
$372k
YoY ▲ 5.1%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,222
YoY ▲ 4.05%
Gross Rental Yield
3.9%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,222 × 12 ÷ $372,470
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 0.8%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 30/100
Median Household Income
$84k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
17.5%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.5x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,156
Market rent 105.7% 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$1,222Primary 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 ↗$917−$305 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 ↗$1,156−$66 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 ↗$1,035−$187 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 Watertown 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
122 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
+38
2,417 in vs 2,379 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 1.6% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$1,522
Arriving $59,425 vs leaving $60,947
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
5.4%
47 of 865 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.119% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Dane County · Waukesha County · Dodge County · Walworth County · Rock County
✓ 2,417 in − 2,379 out = 38 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
- Milwaukee, WI508 arriving
- Madison, WI463 arriving
- Beaver Dam, WI268 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Milwaukee, WI482 leaving
- Madison, WI426 leaving
- Beaver Dam, WI268 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
- LAUS employment declined 0.77% year over year, leaving a weak labor-market backdrop for rental demand.
- Home values rose 5.09% versus 4.05% rent growth, while gross yield was 3.94%, limiting the income cushion at current pricing.
- Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the climate loss ratio records nonzero annual building-value loss.
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 Watertown
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown, WI (Target) | 61 | $372k | $1,222 | 3.9% | ▼ 0.8% |
| Whitewater, WI | 67 | $412k | $1,333 | 3.9% | ▼ 0.3% |
| Baraboo, WI | 45 | $343k | $1,341 | 4.7% | ▼ 0.7% |
| Williston, ND | 45 | $356k | $1,256 | 4.2% | ▼ 1.2% |
| Idaho Falls, ID | 38 | $413k | $1,414 | 4.1% | ▼ 0.1% |
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 |