Rental market · Minneapolis, MN · Incorporated city

Minneapolis, MN: average rent, home values, and rental yield

West North Central · Population 427,246

DatasetCity Market Score, model balanced4,812 of 5,233 tracked U.S. markets rankedgenerated 2026-10-06Latest source releases: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI 2026-08 · Census ACS 5-yr 2024 · Census PEP 2025 · Census BPS 2025 · BLS LAUS 2025 · Redfin 2026-05 · FBI CDE 2025How this is built
D38.3
#3,637 of 4,812 ranked markets
Overall Score 38.3 · stronger than 24% of ranked markets
Confidence 100/100 · every scored factor measured directly, none imputed
Grade D: the biggest single drag is Stability, 27.4 of 100 at 30% of the score, which is 40% of the distance to a perfect 100. See the arithmetic

Why this market does or does not qualify

Overall City Market Score rank #3,637 of 4,812. It does not enter the Buy & Hold shortlist under the baseline screen.

Does not meet screen
Investor-entry estimate$215,674
Modeled rent$1,682/mo
20% down · base cash flow−$150/mo
25% down · rent stress to base−$210/mo to −$80/mo
Hold Coverage · 20% / 25%0.87 / 0.93
Conditional price ceiling · 25%$182,921
Required rent at entry estimate$1,983/mo
Limiting requirementDoes not pass the existing category-quality gate

Price × rent decision grid · 25% down

Change the two inputs that usually decide the deal. Green cells clear the three financial requirements before the separate quality and data gates.

Monthly cash flow / Hold Coverage10% below entry$194,107Entry estimate$215,67410% above entry$237,242
10% higher rent$1,850/mo+$190/moHC 1.19 · clears financial screen+$50/moHC 1.05 · does not clear−$90/moHC 0.93 · does not clear
Modeled rent$1,682/mo+$60/moHC 1.06 · does not clear−$80/moHC 0.93 · does not clear−$220/moHC 0.82 · does not clear
10% lower rent$1,514/mo−$70/moHC 0.93 · does not clear−$210/moHC 0.81 · does not clear−$350/moHC 0.71 · does not clear

Expense waterfall · base case

Monthly, rounded to $10. NOI excludes CapEx and debt service.

  1. Scheduled rent+$1,680/mo
  2. Vacancy allowance−$80/mo
  3. Management−$130/mo
  4. Maintenance−$80/mo
  5. Property tax−$220/mo
  6. Insurance allowance−$90/mo
  7. NOI+$1,080/mo
  8. CapEx reserve−$80/mo
  9. Debt service−$1,080/mo
  10. Cash flow−$80/mo
Base−$80/mo · HC 0.93Rent stress−$210/mo · rent −10%Insurance-expense stress−$260/mo · allowance 1.5%

Two supported strengths
Cash Flow 49/100 and Growth 40/100.

Weakest measured signal
Stability is the weakest category at 27/100.

Primary evidenced risk: property crime is the weakest measured factor (1st national percentile). Data caveat: price is Zillow Bottom-Tier ZHVI (5th–35th percentile); rent is ZORI asking rent and is not bedroom- or property-matched. Insurance is a 0.5% annual allowance, not a quote.

Scenario buy-hold-v1-2026-09-19: 7% fixed financing for 30 years; 20% and 25% down; 5% vacancy; 8% management on collected rent; 5% maintenance and 5% CapEx on scheduled rent; measured local property tax; 3% closing costs. Qualification also requires positive cash flow, Hold Coverage at least 1.10, nonnegative cash flow after 10% lower rent, and the existing quality and data gates.

Property verification checklist
  • Confirm achievable rent with bedroom-matched comps, current listings, and any existing lease.
  • Use the parcel’s actual tax bill and reassessment rules.
  • Obtain a landlord insurance quote, including wind, flood, or named-storm coverage where relevant.
  • Inspect roof, structure, mechanicals, deferred maintenance, and immediate capital needs.
  • Verify utilities, HOA, licensing, inspection, registration, and local rental rules.
  • Replace the modeled loan with a current lender quote, points, closing costs, and reserve requirements.
Minneapolis, MN
Photo: BpA9543 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons · Wikipedia

Why this grade

Overall 38.3 is a weighted geometric mean of the three category scores. Because they are multiplied rather than averaged, their distances from a perfect 100 combine as an exact identity, and each category's share of that distance is the arithmetic below, not an estimate. Stability carries 40% of it, which is what makes it the binding constraint on this grade.

Cash Flow · 35% weight
49.4 / 100
26% of the shortfall
Growth · 35% weight
39.5 / 100
34% of the shortfall
Stability · 30% weight
27.4 / 100
40% of the shortfall

Inside Stability, the shortfall splits over the factors the model scored here, exactly, in proportion to their published weights. The largest component is violent crime (weight 10 of the category's 30, 2nd national percentile, 45% of the category's own shortfall); next is rental vacancy (weight 7 of the category's 30, 30th national percentile, 22% of the category's own shortfall).

What this is not. It is not a claim that a different value on any one factor would produce a different score or a different grade. Every factor is scored as a national percentile and the grade is a percentile cut against the other 4,812 ranked markets, so this market's position moves only relative to all of them, never on its own. All 13 factors were measured for this market, so no category is carrying a gap.

How Minneapolis ranks nationally

Each row places Minneapolis against all 4,812 ranked U.S. markets. The marker is this city; the centre tick is the national median, and the bar spans from that median to the marker, so its length is how far from the middle of the country this market sits and the side it falls on is the direction. Further right is more favorable to an investor: inverted measures (crime, vacancy, price-to-income) are already flipped so higher always means better here.

Overall Scorethe flagship rank
38.324th percentile
Cash Flowyield & affordability
4950th percentile
Growthpopulation, jobs, income
4031st percentile
Stabilitycrime, vacancy, unemployment
276th percentile
Expense-adjusted yield2.5% net of costs
4545th percentile
Affordabilityprice-to-income 4.1×
57more affordable than 57%
Violent crime84 / 100k
3safer than 3%
Rental vacancy6.7% vacant
30tighter than 30%
Population growth0.3%/yr (capped)
4646th percentile
Job growth0.3%/yr (capped)
3737th percentile

What a deal looks like here

A market-level buy-box for Minneapolis, built from this market's own numbers: the investor-entry price, its rent, and local carrying costs. The market grade is a quality screen; the deal verdict below is this financing scenario only. An illustrative scenario, not a listing.

Target buy price
$215,674
Expected rent
$1,682 /mo
Rent-to-price
0.78%
Cap rate
6.0%
Cash-on-cash
-1.6% at 25% dn
NOI-based DSCR
1.00
Hold Coverage
0.93 after CapEx reserve

Does not meet screen. At 25% down, named scenarios span −$210 to −$80/mo after reserves (10% lower-rent stress to base case). This range is not a confidence interval.

Buy target = Zillow Bottom-Tier ZHVI (5th–35th percentile) $215,674; typical home value $328,529. Rent = Zillow ZORI typical asking rent. Assumptions: 25% down, 7% / 30-yr, 5% vacancy, 8% management on collected rent, 5% maintenance, 5% CapEx reserve excluded from NOI and subtracted from cash flow, 0.5% insurance, 1.20% property tax. Illustrative market-level scenario: not a listing, appraisal, recommendation, or underwriting decision. As of 2026-07-10.

Market Negotiation Leverage

Some seller leverage (25th percentile among 6,196 cities with Redfin coverage)

Equal-weight composite of three Redfin signals’ national percentiles (days on market 20, months of supply 2.3, sale-to-list 101.3%), direction-adjusted so a higher percentile always means more room for a buyer to negotiate. This is a cross-sectional snapshot against every other tracked city today, not a seasonal or historical baseline for this specific city (no multi-year time series is committed for this data). Not a prediction of what any specific seller will accept. Source: Redfin Data Center. See how this is calculated.

Measured market data

Measured observations for Minneapolis, shown as context beside the market score (none of it feeds the score), and the model weights are unchanged. These are different measurements from the Census figures in the factor table: the ACS median value is what owners report in a 5-year survey, while ZHVI is a monthly index of typical value; ACS median gross rent is what sitting tenants pay including utilities, while ZORI indexes asking rent on newly listed units. Neither corrects the other. Monthly series, revised in recent months, observed 2026-07, not live.

23 measured Zillow figurestypical value $338,118 · asking rent $1,676/mo · measured gross yield 5.95% · observed 2026-07Show table
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI, mid tier)$338,118
ZHVI bottom tier (5th–35th pct)$225,231
ZHVI top tier (65th–95th pct)$536,987
ZHVI, single-family only$361,227
Zillow asking-rent index (ZORI)$1,676/mo
Measured gross yield (ZORI × 12 ÷ ZHVI)5.95%
Market heat index72
Median days to pending20
Share of listings with a price cut24.0%
Median sale-to-list ratio100.0%
For-sale inventory1,510
New listings524
Median list price$321,783
Median sale price$350,000
Measured 3-yr value growth0.90%/yr
Measured 5-yr value growth0.57%/yr
Measured 3-yr rent growth3.12%/yr
Price–rent divergence (value − rent growth)-2.21%/yr
ZHVI, 1-bedroom$192,284
ZHVI, 2-bedroom$299,508
ZHVI, 3-bedroom$370,585
ZHVI, 4-bedroom$454,014
ZHVI, 5-bedroom$538,604

Source: Zillow Economic Research public research data, observation month 2026-07. Zillow is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Compounding Estates.

Typical home value $328,529 Median rent $1,682/mo Population 427,246 Region West North Central

Price & rent history

Home value $111,705 → $328,529 (2000-01–2026-08) · Asking rent $1,168 → $1,682 (2015-01–2026-08)

Source: Zillow ZHVI (home value) and ZORI (asking rent) - monthly resolution for the last ~10 years (since 2016-09), quarterly before that. Home value uses the left axis, rent the right; toggle either series, change the range, hover to read any point. Gaps in the source series are left as gaps - never interpolated.

ZIP markets in Minneapolis

25 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) officially overlap Minneapolis by land area · 22 data-eligible for subscores. Overlap is Census land-area share, not a population or address share. Each ZIP Code's overall Rental Investor ZIP Score, grade and canonical national rank are shown below (the two component signals, affordability and rental market, are separate percentiles). There is no city-scoped ZIP rank: city overlap isn't a ranking universe, so only the national rank is shown. These ZIP rankings sit in the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, Minneapolis's city ranking. Vintage: the Key metric column below is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), the same survey release as the figures used above for Minneapolis itself; a city and a ZIP Code are different geographies, so the same measure can still show a different number at each level.

12 of 25 overlapping ZIP Code areas, scoredgrade, overall Rental Investor ZIP Score and national rank for each, on a separate model from this page's city scoreShow table
ZIP CodeOverallgrade · natl rankTier · overlapAffordabilitysignal · natl rankRental marketsignal · natl rankKey metric
55401Minneapolis B 55#6,039 nat RankedPrimary 50#9,566 of 20,132 · top 48% 62#4,789 of 20,132 · top 24% 6.1%Survey yield
55402Minneapolis — ProfilePrimary — — $2k/moMedian rent
55403Minneapolis D 40#13,540 nat RankedPrimary 36#15,380 of 20,132 · bottom 24% 57#6,539 of 20,132 · top 32% 5.0%Survey yield
55404Minneapolis D 40#13,619 nat RankedPrimary 31#17,060 of 20,132 · bottom 15% 61#5,054 of 20,132 · top 25% 4.5%Survey yield
55405Minneapolis D 37#14,517 nat RankedPrimary 18#19,543 of 20,132 · bottom 3% 56#7,229 of 20,132 · top 36% 3.2%Survey yield
55406Minneapolis C 48#9,773 nat RankedPrimary 31#17,086 of 20,132 · bottom 15% 50#9,648 of 20,132 · top 48% 4.3%Survey yield
55407Minneapolis C 48#9,620 nat RankedPrimary 35#15,762 of 20,132 · bottom 22% 65#3,565 of 20,132 · top 18% 4.6%Survey yield
55408Minneapolis C 48#10,042 nat RankedPrimary 28#17,896 of 20,132 · bottom 11% 78#518 of 20,132 · top 3% 4.1%Survey yield
55409Minneapolis C 44#11,664 nat RankedPrimary 29#17,675 of 20,132 · bottom 12% 61#5,054 of 20,132 · top 25% 4.2%Survey yield
55412Minneapolis C 48#9,931 nat RankedPrimary 60#5,550 of 20,132 · top 28% 48#10,416 of 20,132 · bottom 48% 7.2%Survey yield
55413Minneapolis C 50#8,567 nat RankedPrimary 39#14,258 of 20,132 · bottom 29% 66#3,209 of 20,132 · top 16% 5.2%Survey yield
55414Minneapolis D 32#16,082 nat RankedPrimary 27#18,171 of 20,132 · bottom 10% 60#5,278 of 20,132 · top 26% 3.9%Survey yield
View all 25 ZIP markets in Minneapolis →

The honest read

Minneapolis scores 38/100 overall (grade D): 49 for Cash Flow, 40 for Growth, and 27 for Stability, each a 0–100 score built from the factors in that category. The scenario above shows what a representative investor-entry purchase pencils out to at today's rates. Everything we can measure is in the table below, with its source.

Every factor, shown

The Overall score blends three category scores built from thirteen measured factors: Cash Flow (35%), Growth (35%), and Stability (30%). The table shows every factor; the tag on each percentile marks which category a scored factor feeds. Untagged factors are shown for context but not scored. Every percentile also carries the band it falls in - top 10%, top quartile, above or below the national median, bottom quartile, bottom 10% - so a bare ordinal still reads as a position; the band restates that percentile and adds nothing to it. Every value carries its source and as-of date. How the score works.

FactorValueNational percentileSource · as-ofWhat it means
Expense-adjusted yield2.5%Below median45th percentile · Cash FlowZillow ZORI/ZHVI · 2026-08-31Annual rent divided by price, net of a modeled vacancy, tax, capex, and management allowance: the core of the Cash Flow category and what the score is actually computed from. The unadjusted gross yield is shown elsewhere on this page.
Price to income4.1xAbove median57th percentile · Cash FlowZillow + ACS income · 2026-08-31Home price over local median income. Lower is cheaper relative to what people earn. Part of the Cash Flow category.
Population growth0.3%/yrBelow median46th percentile · GrowthCensus PEP · Census PEP 2020→2025 (vintage 2025) + Census PEP 2015→2025 (vintages 2019+2025)Census population trend for the place, capped at 4.5%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate): the heaviest factor in the Growth category.
Job growth0.3%/yrBelow median37th percentile · GrowthBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2019→2025 (pre-COVID anchor; 2025 is an 11-month average) + BLS LAUS county annual 2015→2025County employment trend, capped at 4.0%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate). A Growth-category factor.
Income growth5.3%/yrAbove median53rd percentile · GrowthCensus ACS · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Local median-income trend. A Growth-category factor.
Rent growth3.1%/yrBelow median25th percentile · GrowthZillow ZORI · 3yr + 10yr to 2026-08-31A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year rent trend (the model's own weighting). A Growth-category factor.
Home-value growth2.6%/yrBottom quartile11th percentile · GrowthZillow ZHVI · 3yr + 10yr to 2026-08-31A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year price trend (the model's own weighting). A small Growth-category factor.
Unemployment3.6%Above median74th percentile · StabilityBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2025 (11-month average)County unemployment rate. Lower is steadier, a Stability-category factor.
Rental vacancy6.7%Below median30th percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25004 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Share of rentals empty. Lower means more pricing power. A Stability-category factor.
Property tax rate1.2%Below median40th percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25103/B25077 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Median tax over median value. A direct drag on cash flow, scored in the Stability category as carrying-cost burden.
Months of supply2.3 moAbove median69th percentile · StabilityRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01Listings over sales pace. Under about 4 is a seller market, over 6 a buyer market. A Stability-category factor.
Days on market20 daysTop quartile80th percentileRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01How fast homes sell. Lower means more liquidity and an easier exit. Shown for context, not scored.
Sale-to-list ratio101.3%Top quartile82nd percentileRedfin Data Center · 2026-05-01Sale price over asking. Above 100% means homes clear over ask. Shown for context, not scored.
Net domestic migration-0.5/1kBelow median46th percentileCensus PEP (county) · PEP vintage 2025Net people moving in or out of the county, per 1,000 residents. Shown for context, not scored.
Building permits6.5/1kAbove median72nd percentileCensus BPS (county) · BPS 2025New-construction permits per 1,000 homes. More means more supply coming. Shown for context, not scored.
Rent burden29%Above median55th percentileCensus ACS B25071 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Median rent as a share of income. Higher means less headroom for increases. Shown for context, not scored.
Median year built1951Bottom 10%6th percentileCensus ACS B25035 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Age of the housing stock. Older stock carries more capex. Shown for context, not scored.
Max drawdown31%Below median28th percentileZillow ZHVI · 2026-08-31Worst peak-to-trough home-value decline on record. Shown for context, not scored.
Violent crime84 /100kBottom 10%3rd percentile · StabilityFBI CDE · 2023Reported violent-crime rate, municipal police department. Scored in the Stability category; property crime is scored too but shown here as the headline safety number. City-level data cannot resolve within-neighborhood risk.

Where to go next from Minneapolis

Every link below is this market's own data taken one step further: its neighbours in the ranking, the same numbers side by side, or the same numbers in a calculator you can change.

Nearby in the Minnesota rankings, and national look-alikes

  • Golden Valley, MNGrade D · score 38/100 · yield 5.4% · $437,635 · #3,619 nationalZillow ZHVI $159k (2000) to $438k (2026), +176%
  • Hutchinson, MNGrade D · score 38/100 · yield 4.7% · $299,894 · #3,628 nationalZillow ZHVI $146k (2004) to $300k (2026), +106%
  • Fairmont, MNGrade D · score 37/100 · yield 5.2% · $170,959 · #3,764 nationalZillow ZHVI $102k (2009) to $171k (2026), +68%
  • Edina, MNGrade D · score 37/100 · yield 3.9% · $626,258 · #3,768 nationalZillow ZHVI $224k (2000) to $626k (2026), +180%
  • Columbia, PAGrade D · score 38/100 · yield 5.5% · $293,288 · #3,636 nationalZillow ZHVI $114k (2002) to $293k (2026), +158%
  • Fountain Hills, AZGrade D · score 38/100 · yield 4.2% · $660,663 · #3,635 nationalZillow ZHVI $220k (2000) to $661k (2026), +200%
  • Chula Vista, CAGrade D · score 38/100 · yield 4.2% · $849,526 · #3,634 nationalZillow ZHVI $210k (2000) to $850k (2026), +304%

All Minnesota cities →

Compare Minneapolis head to head

Underwrite a Minneapolis deal

  • Cap rateOpens on Minneapolis's own entry price and rent. Change either one.
  • Cash flow & DSCRMonthly cash flow and DSCR, prefilled with this market's numbers.
  • Mortgage paymentP&I on Minneapolis's entry price at the assumptions shown above.
  • All marketsCompare Minneapolis against 4,812 ranked cities.
  • Minnesota ZIP CodesEvery Minnesota ZIP Code area (Census ZCTAs), scored separately from the city rankings.
  • Ranked listsYield, affordability, growth, stability, price band, or whether rent covers the mortgage.
  • Where cash flow concentratesThe research behind why some states pair yield with growth and most don't.

For learning, not advice. A market screen from public data - not a forecast, not underwriting, not a recommendation to buy anywhere.