Region · Census East South Central division · South
East South Central rental markets
The interior Deep South. 4 states and 353 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
East South Central ranks #1 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 55.2/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 4 states make up this division. Its strongest factor is low unemployment: 3.6%, 1st of 9, backed by gross rental yield (2nd).
The biggest drag is income growth: 4.8%, 7th of 9. A region grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 353 ranked cities in this region. The national rank compares all 9 regions on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | Region value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 6.7% | #2 of 9 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 3.9% | #5 of 9 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 3.5% | #6 of 9 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.8% | #4 of 9 |
| Job growth | Growth | 1.0% | #4 of 9 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 4.2× | #4 of 9 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.6% | #1 of 9 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 41% renters · 6.8% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.8% | #7 of 9 |
States in the East South Central division
Ordered by median Overall across each state's ranked cities. A public rank appears only for states that clear the 20-city and 10-county coverage threshold.
| Div rank | State | Overall score | Grade | Gross yield | Home-value growth | Price-to-income | Ranked cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Alabama | 59.1 | A | 7.2% | 3.0% | 3.7× | 108 |
| #6 | Tennessee | 54.9 | B | 6.0% | 3.8% | 4.9× | 104 |
| #12 | Mississippi | 51.9 | B | 9.0% | 1.8% | 3.5× | 61 |
| #14 | Kentucky | 51.2 | B | 6.0% | 4.8% | 4.2× | 80 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2020–2024 · Census PEP July 2025 · BLS LAUS county 2025 annual (11-month average). Generated 2026-10-06. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.