Measured retention yield: 7.1%.
Rent retention screen · constrained national screen
Rental markets with the highest measured rent retention
A bounded screen subtracts direct Apartment List vacancy and population-covered ACS property tax from Zillow gross rent-to-value yield.
Question answeredWhere does the most gross rent-to-value yield remain after the two measured drags of vacancy and property tax?
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 | Retention yield | Gross yield | Vacancy index | Property tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Jackson, MS | 7.1% | 8.3% | 4.9% | 0.7% |
| #2 | New Orleans, LA | 6.3% | 7.3% | 5.7% | 0.6% |
| #3 | Columbia, SC | 6.2% | 7.2% | 6.1% | 0.6% |
| #4 | Lakeland, FL | 6.1% | 7.4% | 8.3% | 0.7% |
| #5 | Port St. Lucie, FL | 5.9% | 7.3% | 7.2% | 0.9% |
| #6 | Augusta, GA | 5.9% | 7.1% | 7.1% | 0.7% |
| #7 | Pittsburgh, PA | 5.9% | 7.8% | 6.7% | 1.4% |
| #8 | Baton Rouge, LA | 5.8% | 6.7% | 5.9% | 0.6% |
| #9 | Birmingham, AL | 5.7% | 6.7% | 7.1% | 0.5% |
| #10 | Pensacola, FL | 5.6% | 6.7% | 7.6% | 0.6% |
| #11 | Memphis, TN | 5.5% | 6.9% | 8.3% | 0.8% |
| #12 | Palm Bay, FL | 5.5% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 0.7% |
| #13 | Little Rock, AR | 5.5% | 6.6% | 6.3% | 0.7% |
| #14 | Miami, FL | 5.5% | 6.8% | 6.8% | 0.9% |
| #15 | Fayetteville, NC | 5.4% | 6.8% | 7.3% | 0.9% |
| #16 | Winston, NC | 5.4% | 6.6% | 6.9% | 0.7% |
| #17 | Oklahoma City, OK | 5.4% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 0.9% |
| #18 | Tampa, FL | 5.4% | 6.7% | 8.6% | 0.8% |
| #19 | Corpus Christi, TX | 5.3% | 7.5% | 8.6% | 1.5% |
| #20 | Gainesville, FL | 5.3% | 6.6% | 5.5% | 0.9% |
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 a RentMarker metro only when Zillow publishes direct current ZHVI and ZORI, Apartment List publishes a current Vacancy Index whose metro FIPS exactly equals the stored OMB CBSA code, and direct ACS effective property-tax observations cover at least 80 percent of the population in mapped counties. Rank by measured rent-retention yield.
How it is calculated
- Gross yield is monthly Zillow ZORI multiplied by 12 and divided by Zillow ZHVI.
- Vacancy drag multiplies annualized ZORI by the direct Apartment List Vacancy Index; property-tax drag multiplies ZHVI by the population-weighted ACS effective property-tax rate.
- Measured retained rent subtracts those two dollar amounts from annualized ZORI. Dividing by ZHVI produces measured rent-retention yield; no other expense or financing assumption enters.
- Descriptive groups compare retention yield and total measured drag with unweighted medians from the same complete intersection. They are not scores or recommendations.
Counter-signals to carry
- Apartment List vacancy and Zillow asking rent use different source methodologies; combining them is a transparent market screen, not a matched-property income statement.
- A higher retained yield can still coexist with weak jobs, insurance risk, deferred maintenance, tenant turnover or neighborhood-level problems.
- Property tax is population-weighted across mapped counties and can differ materially by parcel, assessment rules, exemptions and municipal levies.
Limits before use
- Measured rent retention is not net yield, NOI, cap rate or cash flow because insurance, maintenance, management, utilities, capital expenditure, financing and transaction costs are excluded.
- ZORI, ZHVI, Apartment List and ACS releases cover different periods and housing samples; the study is a current joined screen rather than a synchronized portfolio observation.
- Metro values are not rent comps, appraisals, tax bills or vacancy forecasts for a specific property. Missing direct evidence remains excluded rather than estimated.
Source ledger
Named releases behind this ranking.
Release period and pull date remain attached so a later refresh can reproduce a different order honestly.
Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancyApartment List 2026-07Pulled 2026-08-08OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographyOMB July 2023 delineationPulled 2026-07-30Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxACS 2024 5-yearPulled 2026-08-06Zillow 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.