Home value / income: 1.73×.
Entry affordability · constrained national screen
Rental markets with the lowest home-value-to-income ratios
Fully scored market areas ordered by typical home value relative to local median household income.
Question answeredWhere is the typical home value lowest relative to the income measured in the same market area?
Visual ranking
The leading ten, with one metric encoded.
The chart stays intentionally narrow: it shows the ordering metric, while the table and counter-signals keep the rest of the decision visible.
The median of the ten displayed leaders, not a national threshold.
The table preserves the counter-metrics needed before opening a market brief.
Evidence table
Top twenty qualifying market areas.
Each row links to the full metro evidence. Figures retain the units and concepts named in the column headers.
| Rank | Market area | Value / income | Home value | Market rent | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Danville, IL | 1.73× | $98.6k | $881 | 10.7% |
| #2 | Ponca City, OK | 2.02× | $117.9k | $801 | 8.2% |
| #3 | Decatur, IL | 2.04× | $127.8k | $1k | 9.7% |
| #4 | Johnstown, PA | 2.06× | $120.5k | $863 | 8.6% |
| #5 | Enid, OK | 2.18× | $144.1k | $1.3k | 10.5% |
| #6 | Weirton, WV | 2.32× | $136.6k | $781 | 6.9% |
| #7 | Ogdensburg, NY | 2.40× | $150.6k | $1.2k | 9.3% |
| #8 | Kingsville, TX | 2.43× | $148.7k | $1.4k | 11.5% |
| #9 | Peoria, IL | 2.44× | $175.5k | $1.2k | 8.1% |
| #10 | Meridian, MS | 2.45× | $122.1k | $1.4k | 13.9% |
| #11 | Pottsville, PA | 2.48× | $169.6k | $1.3k | 9.0% |
| #12 | Wheeling, WV | 2.51× | $144.2k | $919 | 7.6% |
| #13 | Freeport, IL | 2.53× | $162.1k | $893 | 6.6% |
| #14 | Lawton, OK | 2.55× | $154.6k | $1.1k | 8.6% |
| #15 | Fairmont, WV | 2.55× | $171.8k | $1.2k | 8.2% |
| #16 | Charleston, WV | 2.57× | $154.3k | $1.3k | 10.1% |
| #17 | Elmira, NY | 2.58× | $164.2k | $1.2k | 8.4% |
| #18 | Hutchinson, KS | 2.62× | $159k | $855 | 6.5% |
| #19 | Springfield, IL | 2.64× | $200.3k | $1.2k | 7.2% |
| #20 | Paducah, KY | 2.65× | $170.2k | $1.3k | 9.0% |
Method and limits
What this order means—and what it does not.
This is a repeatable screening order, not an investment recommendation, forecast or property-level estimate.
Inclusion and ordering rule: Include only fully scored RentMarker market areas with direct Zillow ZHVI and ZORI plus current ACS median household income. Order by typical home value divided by median household income, lowest first; break ties with the lower typical home value.
How it is calculated
- Home-value-to-income divides the current Zillow ZHVI typical home value by ACS median household income.
- The fully scored requirement keeps every displayed market inside the same evidence-complete universe.
- Gross yield and market rent remain separate context and do not alter the ordering.
Counter-signals to carry
- A lower market-wide value-to-income ratio does not show whether a target property is affordable to finance or operate.
- Low prices can coexist with weak employment, falling population, older housing or thin resale liquidity.
- Local income is not an investor budget and does not measure the tenant pool for a specific unit.
Limits before use
- ZHVI and ACS describe different concepts and release periods; the ratio is a screening comparison, not an appraisal.
- Metro medians conceal neighborhood and property-type variation.
- Taxes, insurance, condition, vacancy, repairs and financing are absent from the ordering.
Source ledger
Named releases behind this ranking.
Release period and pull date remain attached so a later refresh can reproduce a different order honestly.
Next decision
Move from a market screen to a property test.
Open the market evidence first, then replace market-wide typicals with the candidate property’s actual price, rent and operating assumptions.