Region · Census West South Central division · South
West South Central rental markets
Texas and the south-central states. 4 states and 574 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
West South Central ranks #3 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 51.6/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 4 states make up this division. Its strongest factor is job growth: 1.8%, 1st of 9, backed by population growth (2nd).
The biggest drag is rent growth: 2.7%, 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 574 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% | #3 of 9 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 2.7% | #9 of 9 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 2.0% | #9 of 9 |
| Population growth | Growth | 1.2% | #2 of 9 |
| Job growth | Growth | 1.8% | #1 of 9 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 3.9× | #3 of 9 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 4.1% | #5 of 9 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 43% renters · 7.6% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.6% | #8 of 9 |
States in the West 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.
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.