Gross yield: 11.7%.
Yield + hazard screen · constrained national screen
Higher-yield markets with lower FEMA loss exposure
A two-median screen: gross yield at or above the complete-universe median and FEMA loss exposure at or below it.
Question answeredWhich market areas clear both the higher-yield and lower population-weighted FEMA loss-ratio screens?
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 | Gross yield | FEMA loss ratio | Job change | Dominant hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Roanoke Rapids, NC | 11.7% | 0.13% | −0.9% | Inland flood |
| #2 | Macomb, IL | 11.1% | 0.12% | −3.5% | Inland flood |
| #3 | Danville, IL | 10.7% | 0.13% | −2.4% | Inland flood |
| #4 | Houghton, MI | 10.7% | 0.09% | −0.9% | Inland flood |
| #5 | Sault Ste. Marie, MI | 10.2% | 0.06% | −1.4% | Inland flood |
| #6 | Ozark, AL | 10.1% | 0.13% | +0.2% | Inland flood |
| #7 | Decatur, IL | 9.7% | 0.14% | −0.5% | Inland flood |
| #8 | Ogdensburg, NY | 9.3% | 0.12% | +0.1% | Inland flood |
| #9 | Monroe, LA | 9.1% | 0.10% | +1.1% | Inland flood |
| #10 | Pottsville, PA | 9.0% | 0.13% | +0.1% | Inland flood |
| #11 | Somerset, KY | 8.9% | 0.13% | +1.5% | Inland flood |
| #12 | Mount Pleasant, TX | 8.8% | 0.11% | −7.3% | Inland flood |
| #13 | Shreveport, LA | 8.8% | 0.12% | +0.0% | Inland flood |
| #14 | Laurel, MS | 8.7% | 0.14% | +0.8% | Inland flood |
| #15 | Sumter, SC | 8.6% | 0.13% | +0.3% | Inland flood |
| #16 | Johnstown, PA | 8.6% | 0.08% | −1.0% | Inland flood |
| #17 | Wichita Falls, TX | 8.5% | 0.12% | −0.3% | Inland flood |
| #18 | DuBois, PA | 8.5% | 0.11% | +0.0% | Inland flood |
| #19 | Elmira, NY | 8.4% | 0.10% | +0.0% | Inland flood |
| #20 | Sandusky, OH | 8.4% | 0.11% | +2.1% | Inland flood |
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 every RentMarker metro with direct Zillow ZHVI and ZORI, a population-weighted FEMA annualized building-loss ratio and a named BLS employment series. Compute unweighted medians across that complete intersection, then place every metro into one of four yield/loss groups. The screen group is yield at or above the median with loss exposure at or below the median; no group receives a composite score.
How it is calculated
- Gross yield is current monthly Zillow ZORI multiplied by 12 and divided by Zillow ZHVI.
- Metro FEMA exposure is the population-weighted average of member-county annualized building-loss ratios from the National Risk Index.
- Median lines are descriptive boundaries computed from the same complete metro universe; BLS employment change remains a separate counter-signal.
Counter-signals to carry
- Gross yield is before insurance, taxes, vacancy, repairs, management and financing, so FEMA exposure is not an expense adjustment to that yield.
- A lower-half FEMA ratio is not a safe-market label; each metro still has a dominant hazard and property-level exposure can differ sharply.
- Several high-yield, lower-loss metros have flat or declining employment, which can weaken the demand case despite clearing the two-axis screen.
Limits before use
- FEMA NRI is not an insurance quote, parcel flood map or prediction of a specific loss; property construction, elevation and policy terms remain unknown.
- Zillow, FEMA, Census and BLS releases cover different periods, so the chart is a current joined screen rather than a synchronized causal model.
- Metro averages can conceal county, city and neighborhood differences, and median boundaries change when the complete source universe changes.
Source ledger
Named releases behind this ranking.
Release period and pull date remain attached so a later refresh can reproduce a different order honestly.
Census ACS 5-year — populationACS 2024 5-yearPulled 2026-07-26BLS CES — payroll employmentCES SM currentPulled 2026-07-26BLS LAUS — resident employmentLAUS currentPulled 2026-07-26OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographyOMB July 2023 delineationPulled 2026-07-30FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)Pulled 2026-07-26Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csvPulled 2026-07-26Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csvPulled 2026-07-26
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.