Composite score = 55% ROI (investor-friendly score + cap rate) + 45% safety (inverse per-capita crime rate). Candidates limited to cities with population >= 50,000 and complete ROI + crime data. Each metric is winsorized at the 5th/95th percentile before normalization so outliers cannot distort the ranking. All metrics sourced live from the PulseReal public API.
| # | City | Composite | Cap rate | Investor score | Crime / 1k | Median price | Population | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Las Vegas, NV | 82.7 | 4.5% | 61 | 6.7 | $425,000 | 247,248 | Crime·Market |
| 2 | Worcester, MA | 80.9 | -0.1% | 61 | 3.3 | $255,000 | 185,186 | Crime·Market |
| 3 | Cleveland, OH | 80.0 | 4.1% | 61 | 7.5 | $144,900 | 383,331 | Crime·Market |
| 4 | Chicago, IL | 78.7 | 7.6% | 50 | 5.2 | $422,000 | 2,699,347 | Crime·Market |
| 5 | Cape Coral, FL | 76.5 | 1.9% | 54 | 1.1 | $370,000 | 189,633 | Crime·Market |
| 6 | Birmingham, AL | 75.5 | 31.3% | 44 | 4.5 | $184,750 | 210,928 | Crime·Market |
| 7 | Minneapolis, MN | 75.1 | 8.0% | 50 | 7.1 | $341,450 | 424,536 | Crime·Market |
| 8 | Madison, WI | 74.9 | 5.3% | 74 | 10.8 | $435,000 | 258,366 | Crime·Market |
| 9 | Grand Rapids, MI | 73.9 | 3.3% | 58 | 7.7 | $312,500 | 199,417 | Crime·Market |
| 10 | Des Moines, IA | 72.1 | 4.1% | 47 | 3.1 | $194,000 | 215,408 | Crime·Market |
| 11 | Henderson, NV | 72.0 | 9.5% | 52 | 10.4 | $549,900 | 309,955 | Crime·Market |
| 12 | Chesapeake, VA | 70.8 | 0.1% | 66 | 7.9 | $350,000 | 242,647 | Crime·Market |
| 13 | Toledo, OH | 70.0 | 6.3% | 61 | 13.9 | $156,000 | 275,116 | Crime·Market |
| 14 | Portland, ME | 69.6 | 1.1% | 60 | 8.7 | $635,000 | 66,706 | Crime·Market |
| 15 | Huntsville, AL | 68.7 | 5.5% | 42 | 2.1 | $142,500 | 199,845 | Crime·Market |
| 16 | Omaha, NE | 68.4 | 11.3% | 43 | 7.0 | $192,500 | 479,529 | Crime·Market |
| 17 | Corpus Christi, TX | 68.2 | 0.0% | 65 | 8.9 | — | 326,332 | Crime·Market |
| 18 | Columbus, OH | 67.9 | 1.5% | 48 | 2.5 | $274,550 | 889,079 | Crime·Market |
| 19 | Anaheim, CA | 65.7 | 0.1% | 57 | 7.9 | $790,000 | 353,085 | Crime·Market |
| 20 | Baltimore, MD | 65.4 | 5.1% | 49 | 8.2 | $230,000 | 602,274 | Crime·Market |
| 21 | Dallas, TX | 64.5 | 6.9% | 44 | 7.4 | $525,000 | 1,338,846 | Crime·Market |
| 22 | Boston, MA | 64.5 | -0.3% | 50 | 4.2 | $837,000 | 689,326 | Crime·Market |
| 23 | Garland, TX | 64.4 | 3.1% | 63 | 13.4 | $140,450 | 238,622 | Crime·Market |
| 24 | Kansas City, MO | 64.3 | 6.2% | 51 | 10.7 | $220,000 | 491,158 | Crime·Market |
| 25 | Fort Wayne, IN | 64.1 | 2.8% | 49 | 6.6 | $210,000 | 268,378 | Crime·Market |
| 26 | Cambridge, MA | 64.0 | -1.4% | 55 | 6.1 | $1,785,000 | 117,822 | Crime·Market |
| 27 | Providence, RI | 64.0 | 1.0% | 49 | 5.0 | $652,500 | 179,472 | Crime·Market |
| 28 | Chula Vista, CA | 63.8 | -0.6% | 52 | 5.3 | $835,000 | 268,779 | Crime·Market |
| 29 | Kissimmee, FL | 63.7 | 4.7% | 60 | 14.6 | $292,500 | 72,410 | Crime·Market |
| 30 | Buffalo, NY | 63.6 | 8.2% | 49 | 11.7 | $177,500 | 255,805 | Crime·Market |
| 31 | Frisco, TX | 63.6 | 1.2% | 49 | 5.3 | $675,000 | 188,387 | Crime·Market |
| 32 | Charleston, SC | 63.0 | 4.0% | 57 | 12.6 | $325,000 | 137,041 | Crime·Market |
| 33 | Plano, TX | 62.9 | 1.2% | 51 | 6.8 | $522,500 | 288,870 | Crime·Market |
| 34 | Provo, UT | 62.4 | 1.0% | 53 | 8.0 | $465,000 | 116,886 | Crime·Market |
| 35 | San Antonio, TX | 61.8 | 3.4% | 48 | 7.6 | $264,900 | 1,529,133 | Crime·Market |
| 36 | Raleigh, NC | 61.8 | 2.8% | 41 | 2.9 | $275,000 | 469,698 | Crime·Market |
| 37 | Virginia Beach, VA | 61.6 | -0.8% | 54 | 7.2 | $285,000 | 450,882 | Crime·Market |
| 38 | Long Beach, CA | 61.5 | 3.2% | 44 | 5.3 | $875,000 | 462,081 | Crime·Market |
| 39 | Fort Worth, TX | 60.7 | 3.8% | 49 | 9.0 | $277,500 | 892,221 | Crime·Market |
| 40 | Yonkers, NY | 60.6 | 0.2% | 56 | 9.7 | $635,000 | 200,183 | Crime·Market |
| 41 | Richmond, VA | 60.2 | 0.9% | 47 | 5.5 | $457,275 | 229,233 | Crime·Market |
| 42 | Irving, TX | 59.6 | 1.2% | 49 | 7.1 | $540,000 | 240,475 | Crime·Market |
| 43 | Oklahoma City, OK | 59.4 | 5.5% | 47 | 10.0 | $269,900 | 649,821 | Crime·Market |
| 44 | Lubbock, TX | 58.6 | 11.6% | 42 | 10.8 | $179,500 | 257,013 | Crime·Market |
| 45 | Laredo, TX | 58.0 | 1.3% | 46 | 6.3 | $385,000 | 260,571 | Crime·Market |
| 46 | Milwaukee, WI | 57.8 | -0.7% | 53 | 8.3 | $225,000 | 592,649 | Crime·Market |
| 47 | Norfolk, VA | 57.6 | 2.2% | 56 | 12.8 | $325,000 | 244,300 | Crime·Market |
| 48 | Columbus, GA | 57.5 | 0.0% | 48 | 6.4 | — | 195,418 | Crime·Market |
| 49 | Santa Ana, CA | 56.9 | 2.0% | 43 | 5.7 | $883,500 | 332,610 | Crime·Market |
| 50 | Philadelphia, PA | 56.7 | 0.8% | 47 | 7.0 | $320,000 | 1,581,531 | Crime·Market |
Use the PulseReal Ranker to score any U.S. city or ZIP by ROI, safety, schools, and growth, then drill into a single property with the Evaluator.
Composite score = 55% ROI (investor-friendly score + cap rate) + 45% safety (inverse per-capita crime rate). Candidates limited to cities with population >= 50,000 and complete ROI + crime data. Each metric is winsorized at the 5th/95th percentile before normalization so outliers cannot distort the ranking. All metrics sourced live from the PulseReal public API.
ROI is measured using PulseReal's investor-friendly score (a 0–100 composite of cash flow, appreciation, and liquidity) combined with cap rate (annual net operating income divided by price). These two metrics make up 55% of each city's composite score.
Safety is the per-capita crime rate — total reported incidents per 1,000 residents — sourced from PulseReal's crime data. Lower crime rates score higher, and safety accounts for 45% of the composite score.
Yes. A CSV of the full ranking, including every metric used to compute the composite score, is available from the "Download CSV" button on this page.
The ranking is regenerated from live PulseReal data. This edition was last updated on June 9, 2026.
PulseReal builds on these public, authoritative datasets and industry references.
Existing-home sales, pending sales, and housing affordability indices.
Short-term rental supply, ADR, and occupancy benchmarks.
Listing inventory, median list price, and time-on-market data.
Population, household, housing, and commuter data by city and ZIP.
Federal Reserve Economic Data: mortgage rates, housing starts, price indexes.