Region · Census West North Central division · Midwest
West North Central rental markets
The Upper Midwest and Plains. 7 states and 491 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
West North Central ranks #5 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 47.6/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 7 states make up this division. Its strongest factor is affordability (price-to-income): 3.8×, 2nd of 9, backed by low unemployment (2nd).
The biggest drag is income growth: 4.5%, 9th 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 491 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 | 5.9% | #6 of 9 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.4% | #4 of 9 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 4.0% | #4 of 9 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.6% | #5 of 9 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.5% | #5 of 9 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 3.8× | #2 of 9 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.6% | #2 of 9 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 37% renters · 5.7% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.5% | #9 of 9 |
States in the West North 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #11 | Nebraska | 52.4 | B | 5.8% | 4.3% | 3.9× | 32 |
| #17 | Missouri | 50.6 | B | 6.5% | 4.6% | 3.8× | 129 |
| #19 | Minnesota | 47.8 | C | 5.5% | 3.3% | 3.9× | 150 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | South Dakota | 47.1 | C | 4.8% | 4.0% | 4.5× | 18 |
| #21 | Kansas | 46.9 | C | 6.2% | 4.8% | 3.6× | 64 |
| #23 | Iowa | 45.4 | C | 6.1% | 3.6% | 3.3× | 85 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | North Dakota | 41.2 | D | 4.4% | 3.4% | 4.5× | 13 |
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.