CE Universe · 5,214 U.S. markets
Compare market fundamentals, test rental cash flow, and see what purchase price could make a deal work. The map starts with our standardized Buy & Hold screen; switch lenses to explore the evidence behind it.
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Save a market from its map briefing to build a short research list. No account is required.
Data generated 2026-09-14
Modeled Buy & Hold shortlist
164 also clear it at 20% down. Insurance is a 0.5% annual allowance; the count falls to 151 at 1.0% and 108 at 1.5%. These are sensitivities, not premium estimates. Screen buy-hold-v1-2026-09-19.
Strongest score: Cash Flow · Weakest measured signal: Growth
Data caveat: bottom-tier value and market rent are not property-matched; verify rent, tax, condition, and an actual landlord insurance quote.
Strongest score: Cash Flow · Weakest measured signal: Growth
Data caveat: bottom-tier value and market rent are not property-matched; verify rent, tax, condition, and an actual landlord insurance quote.
Strongest score: Growth · Weakest measured signal: Stability
Data caveat: bottom-tier value and market rent are not property-matched; verify rent, tax, condition, and an actual landlord insurance quote.
5,214 U.S. cities · data generated 2026-09-14
Start with 4,787 U.S. markets ranked on public data, then replace our market-level estimates with an actual property’s price, rent, insurance quote, taxes, and costs before you commit.
City data generated 2026-09-14 · ZIP data ACS 2024 5-year · searchable, scored and ranked are different universes; not every ZIP Code has an overall score.
How we work with you
The same three steps every time, whether this is your first property or your ninth. Screen the market, understand what is actually driving the score, then replace our area-level estimates with the real property’s price, rent and costs.
Search a city or ZIP Code, or browse the ranked lists to find markets that fit your strategy.
Read the measured factors, confidence and limitations on the profile. City and ZIP scores stay in their own comparison universes.
Test the actual deal in a free calculator. Sign in only when you want to save the analysis or move it into your property tracker.
Market intelligence
Cities and ZIP Codes are scored by separate, transparent models on different geographies. Their numbers are not interchangeable, so we keep the rankings distinct and link each to its own methodology.
Cash Flow, Durable Growth and Stability & Rental Demand, combined by a published weighted formula. Every factor is a national percentile from Census, Zillow, BLS and FBI data, sourced and dated on each page.
A 0–100 score and A–F grade for Census ZIP Code areas, with national and in-state percentiles, honest ACS history, and clear labels where a factor is county or place context rather than ZIP-observed.
City and ZIP scores are computed on different geographies and are not directly comparable.
Run the numbers
Every calculator shows its formula and every assumption. Signed in, save an analysis to compare deals side by side.
General wealth calculators (investment growth, retirement, and more) stay on the full calculators page.
Methodology
The product is the credibility of the numbers. Both ranking models and the financial screen are published in full; measured, modeled, and assumed inputs are labeled, and the limits are stated on the page.
City inputs include Zillow, Census, BLS and FBI data. ZIP profiles use Census and other government sources unless a page explicitly names something else. Survey estimates are never presented as live listings.
The City Market Score, Buy & Hold screen, and Rental Investor ZIP Score publish every weight, assumption, gate, and limitation.
Every figure carries its source and vintage, and the methodology names what the model can’t see. Scores are a screen built from historical public data, not a forecast, appraisal, or investment advice.
The Rental Investor ZIP Score reads 24 measured inputs, and 6 of them are observed for fewer than 30% of ranked ZIP Code areas. We publish which ones, because the alternative is filling the gap and not saying so: A ZIP either has a measured observation or it does not. No measured value is inherited from a county, neighbour or state. Below are the three thinnest, and the best-covered input for scale.
Share of ranked ZIP Code areas with a measured observation, published in the ZIP model manifest. The ZIP model in full →
Read the full methodology → · no account required · no data sold
Selected research
Overall market quality and financed holdability answer different questions. See the current leading market, the standardized screen, and the purchase conditions that would change the result.
Read → Jul 8, 2026Real NOI, DSCR, cash-on-cash and the stress test: the actual math behind a go/no-go, with a calculator linked at each step.
Read → Aug 18, 2026Why we rejected our first two ZIP scores, and the transparent four-category model that finally passed, on 20,132 ZIP Code areas.
Read →The research stays free and public, permanently. Sign in only when you want us to remember your work.