The composite score is 55% return and 45% safety. Return is 60% investor score and 40% cap rate. Safety uses reported incidents per resident, and a lower rate scores higher. A city is included only when it has at least 50,000 residents, a median sale price of at least $50,000, a cap rate from 1% to 15%, an investor score from 0 to 100 that is not a copy of the cap rate, and crime data. A missing price or revenue is left blank. A cap rate outside that range, or an investor score copied from the cap rate, is left out of the ranking. Before scoring, each measure is held between the 5th and 95th percentile so one city cannot distort the scale.
Figures in this edition were read on October 22, 2026.
| # | City | Composite | Cap rate | Investor score | Crime / 1k | Median price | Population | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Las Vegas, NV | 79.6 | 4.5% | 61 | 6.7 | $425,000 | 247,248 | Crime·Market |
| 2 | Cleveland, OH | 77.3 | 4.1% | 61 | 7.5 | $144,900 | 383,331 | Crime·Market |
| 3 | Madison, WI | 74.6 | 5.3% | 74 | 10.8 | $435,000 | 258,366 | Crime·Market |
| 4 | Toledo, OH | 71.7 | 6.3% | 61 | 13.9 | $156,000 | 275,116 | Crime·Market |
| 5 | Chicago, IL | 70.9 | 7.6% | 50 | 5.2 | $422,000 | 2,699,347 | Crime·Market |
| 6 | Grand Rapids, MI | 70.0 | 3.3% | 58 | 7.7 | $312,500 | 199,417 | Crime·Market |
| 7 | Henderson, NV | 69.9 | 9.5% | 52 | 10.4 | $549,900 | 309,955 | Crime·Market |
| 8 | Minneapolis, MN | 68.6 | 8.0% | 50 | 7.1 | $341,450 | 424,536 | Crime·Market |
| 9 | Cape Coral, FL | 68.2 | 1.9% | 54 | 1.1 | $370,000 | 189,633 | Crime·Market |
| 10 | Portland, ME | 66.7 | 1.1% | 60 | 8.7 | $635,000 | 66,706 | Crime·Market |
| 11 | Garland, TX | 65.2 | 3.1% | 63 | 13.4 | $140,450 | 238,622 | Crime·Market |
| 12 | Kissimmee, FL | 65.2 | 4.7% | 60 | 14.6 | $292,500 | 72,410 | Crime·Market |
| 13 | Omaha, NE | 63.1 | 11.3% | 43 | 7.0 | $192,500 | 479,529 | Crime·Market |
| 14 | Charleston, SC | 61.8 | 4.0% | 57 | 12.6 | $325,000 | 137,041 | Crime·Market |
| 15 | Des Moines, IA | 61.3 | 4.1% | 47 | 3.1 | $194,000 | 215,408 | Crime·Market |
| 16 | Kansas City, MO | 60.0 | 6.2% | 51 | 10.7 | $220,000 | 491,158 | Crime·Market |
| 17 | Buffalo, NY | 59.6 | 8.2% | 49 | 11.7 | $177,500 | 255,805 | Crime·Market |
| 18 | Baltimore, MD | 58.5 | 5.1% | 49 | 8.2 | $230,000 | 602,274 | Crime·Market |
| 19 | Columbus, OH | 57.1 | 1.5% | 48 | 2.5 | $274,550 | 889,079 | Crime·Market |
| 20 | Huntsville, AL | 56.4 | 5.5% | 42 | 2.1 | $142,500 | 199,845 | Crime·Market |
| 21 | Provo, UT | 56.3 | 1.0% | 53 | 8.0 | $465,000 | 116,886 | Crime·Market |
| 22 | Tulsa, OK | 56.1 | 3.8% | 59 | 17.9 | $114,250 | 402,441 | Crime·Market |
| 23 | Norfolk, VA | 55.8 | 2.2% | 56 | 12.8 | $325,000 | 244,300 | Crime·Market |
| 24 | Fort Wayne, IN | 55.7 | 2.8% | 49 | 6.6 | $210,000 | 268,378 | Crime·Market |
| 25 | Dallas, TX | 55.6 | 6.9% | 44 | 7.4 | $525,000 | 1,338,846 | Crime·Market |
| 26 | Lubbock, TX | 55.3 | 11.6% | 42 | 10.8 | $179,500 | 257,013 | Crime·Market |
| 27 | Plano, TX | 55.1 | 1.2% | 51 | 6.8 | $522,500 | 288,870 | Crime·Market |
| 28 | Providence, RI | 54.5 | 1.0% | 49 | 5.0 | $652,500 | 179,472 | Crime·Market |
| 29 | Frisco, TX | 54.1 | 1.2% | 49 | 5.3 | $675,000 | 188,387 | Crime·Market |
| 30 | Fort Worth, TX | 54.0 | 3.8% | 49 | 9.0 | $277,500 | 892,221 | Crime·Market |
| 31 | San Antonio, TX | 53.8 | 3.4% | 48 | 7.6 | $264,900 | 1,529,133 | Crime·Market |
| 32 | Oklahoma City, OK | 52.9 | 5.5% | 47 | 10.0 | $269,900 | 649,821 | Crime·Market |
| 33 | Rochester, NY | 52.9 | 4.6% | 52 | 13.8 | $175,000 | 206,357 | Crime·Market |
| 34 | Lincoln, NE | 51.8 | 8.4% | 47 | 14.7 | $160,000 | 286,388 | Crime·Market |
| 35 | Irving, TX | 51.2 | 1.2% | 49 | 7.1 | $540,000 | 240,475 | Crime·Market |
| 36 | Aurora, CO | 50.5 | 1.3% | 52 | 10.6 | $250,000 | 379,434 | Crime·Market |
| 37 | Long Beach, CA | 50.4 | 3.2% | 44 | 5.3 | $875,000 | 462,081 | Crime·Market |
| 38 | Cincinnati, OH | 50.0 | 6.8% | 45 | 11.6 | $317,500 | 302,687 | Crime·Market |
| 39 | Memphis, TN | 48.9 | 5.4% | 48 | 13.3 | $94,250 | 650,910 | Crime·Market |
| 40 | Raleigh, NC | 48.9 | 2.8% | 41 | 2.9 | $275,000 | 469,698 | Crime·Market |
| 41 | Bloomington, IN | 48.6 | 4.0% | 46 | 9.5 | $300,000 | 84,691 | Crime·Market |
| 42 | Laredo, TX | 47.9 | 1.3% | 46 | 6.3 | $385,000 | 260,571 | Crime·Market |
| 43 | Greensboro, NC | 45.7 | 3.6% | 44 | 8.7 | $249,070 | 294,395 | Crime·Market |
| 44 | Santa Ana, CA | 45.4 | 2.0% | 43 | 5.7 | $883,500 | 332,610 | Crime·Market |
| 45 | San Diego, CA | 45.1 | 1.9% | 45 | 7.7 | $912,000 | 1,414,545 | Crime·Market |
| 46 | New Haven, CT | 44.8 | 1.1% | 63 | 22.9 | $455,000 | 130,381 | Crime·Market |
| 47 | Arlington, TX | 44.4 | 2.4% | 46 | 9.9 | $334,950 | 397,269 | Crime·Market |
| 48 | Houston, TX | 43.1 | 2.4% | 43 | 7.5 | $370,000 | 2,313,238 | Crime·Market |
| 49 | El Paso, TX | 42.5 | 3.2% | 42 | 8.1 | $190,000 | 679,879 | Crime·Market |
| 50 | Miami, FL | 40.7 | 2.0% | 45 | 10.5 | $555,000 | 461,080 | Crime·Market |
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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.
The composite score is 55% return and 45% safety. Return is 60% investor score and 40% cap rate. Safety uses reported incidents per resident, and a lower rate scores higher. A city is included only when it has at least 50,000 residents, a median sale price of at least $50,000, a cap rate from 1% to 15%, an investor score from 0 to 100 that is not a copy of the cap rate, and crime data. A missing price or revenue is left blank. A cap rate outside that range, or an investor score copied from the cap rate, is left out of the ranking. Before scoring, each measure is held between the 5th and 95th percentile so one city cannot distort the scale.
The investor score is Rabbu's 0–100 score for the short-term rental market. The cap rate is a year of short-term rental profit divided by the median sale price. Together they are 55% of each city's composite score.
Crime data: FBI Crime Data Explorer (NIBRS), 2025 data, as city-level reported incidents per 1,000 residents. Safety counts those incidents per 1,000 residents, and a lower rate scores higher. Safety is 45% of the composite score.
Crime data: FBI Crime Data Explorer (NIBRS), 2025 data, as city-level reported incidents per 1,000 residents. Safety counts those incidents per 1,000 residents, and a lower rate scores higher. Cap rate is a year of short-term rental profit divided by the median sale price. Profit is Rabbu short-term rental revenue, refreshed monthly, minus 20% of that revenue and minus 2.6% of the price for maintenance, tax, and insurance. This edition was read on October 22, 2026. The median sale price is the Redfin Data Center median, refreshed twice a month. This edition was read on October 22, 2026. A cap rate under 1% is left out because the profit is then smaller than a one-point error in the 2.6% cost allowance, and a cap rate above 15% is left out as well. The investor score is Rabbu's 0–100 score for the short-term rental market, refreshed monthly. This edition was read on October 22, 2026. Population is the US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) count for the city. The Census Bureau publishes new ACS estimates once a year, and PulseReal reads them again in January, April, July, and October. This edition was read on October 22, 2026.
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 PulseReal data. This edition was read on October 22, 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.