The Best Long-Term Rental Markets According to the Data (and Common Sense)

In This Article

We all love hearing about “hot” markets, but by the time they’re called hot, they’re already cooling off. 

As investors, we need to take the emotion out of buying decisions and follow the data. If you’re reading this now, you might still be early enough to grab a deal before everyone else’s spreadsheet catches up. For this breakdown, I pulled data from Rent to Retirement’s latest market insights, along with FRED, Zillow, and some good ol’ investor instinct, to find the markets showing real signs of growth for 2025–2026.

Quick-Hit List of Markets Worth Watching

Atlanta, Georgia: An appreciation powerhouse

Columbus, Georgia: Steady rent growth and rising jobs

Canton, Ohio: Population and job growth 

Goddard, Kansas: Low-entry, high-yield market

Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University town and manufacturing growth

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Affordable with rising demand

These markets might not make you a millionaire overnight, but they’re the kind that make you start opening Zillow tabs at midnight. Maybe it’s the caffeine talking, but a few of these got my heart racing…like I just found a duplex under asking. 

Here are three to consider.

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta has always been a quiet overachiever in the Southeast. While everyone was talking about Austin and Nashville, Atlanta was stacking Fortune 500 relocations, population gains, and infrastructure growth. I personally like the fact that there is a Waffle House on almost every corner, but I don’t think that moves the needle for most investors.

What did move the needle is that in 2025, Georgia’s economic development office announced $26 billion in new investment commitments. That means more than 23,000 new jobs. Big names like AIG, Duracell, TriNet, and CRH all expanded across the metro, while companies such as Microsoft, Visa, and Boston Scientific grew their existing campuses.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that education and health services alone added 23,500 jobs this year, achieving a growth rate of 5.3%, which is above the national average. Atlanta’s metro population now tops 5.28 million residents after adding about 64,000 newcomers last year. That’s the size of a small city, moving in annually.

For investors, that means the fundamentals are solid. You might not get 15% returns, but you get diversity, growth, and long-term upside. 

Atlanta is the perfect mix of cash flow and appreciation. Think of it as a market where your equity does the heavy lifting, while your tenants cover the monthly bills.

Goddard, Kansas

Goddard, Kansas, sits just outside Wichita, and it might be one of the most under-the-radar cash flow markets in the country. We are actually in Kansas, Toto. 

The population in Goddard has grown by almost 19% since 2020. Median household income is around $92,000, which is high for a city of 6,000 people. The median home price sits around $200,000, roughly half the national average. That means you can buy a solid home for less than the down payment on a condo in Austin.

The employment base is built on healthcare, manufacturing, and education. Wichita’s aerospace and industrial sectors spill over, creating steady local demand. Job growth was about 11% last year, which may not sound like much, but in a small community, it’s meaningful.

This is the kind of place where you buy, hold, and breathe easy. There isn’t any trendy hype or unpredictable regulation. Goddard offers dependable tenants and strong yield. Investors here report 12% to 14% cash-on-cash returns, with straightforward management.

If Atlanta is where your portfolio grows up, Goddard is where it retires early.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Tuscaloosa doesn’t fit into one category, and that’s what makes it stand out. It’s a university town, a manufacturing hub, and a stable long-term rental market, all rolled into one. Nick Saban isn’t returning anytime soon, but the Tide is still rolling.

You might also like

The University of Alabama brings in about 38,000 students, creating a steady pipeline of renters. Additionally, the city’s manufacturing sector has quietly exploded, led by Mercedes-Benz, which employs more than 6,000 workers locally. When you add in steel, healthcare, and logistics jobs, Tuscaloosa’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the state, at 3%.

The city’s population sits near 116,000 and continues to grow, thanks to steady job creation and expansion in the auto industry. The university adds predictability, while the industrial sector brings stability.

The beauty of Tuscaloosa is flexibility. You can run a traditional long-term rental and count on consistent tenants. You can lease to students for higher yields with a bit more turnover. And you can even test short-term rentals around football season or university events. Few markets offer that kind of optionality.

Tuscaloosa might not headline the next viral YouTube video about “The Top 10 Hot Markets,” but it has the kind of steady performance that keeps portfolios strong through market cycles.

Working With an Expert

If you want to invest in one of these markets without dealing with the usual headaches, Rent to Retirement makes it simple. They help investors purchase fully renovated, tenant-occupied properties that cash flow from day one. Their team handles everything from identifying the right market and securing financing to coordinating property management and maintenance. It’s a true hands-off approach that lets you build a portfolio in top-performing markets—while keeping your time and sanity intact.

Final Thoughts

Markets come and go, but good fundamentals stay. The best places to invest share three simple traits: job growth, population growth, and manageable prices. If a market hits two of those three, it deserves a look. If it hits all three, it deserves your money.

Atlanta, Goddard, and Tuscaloosa each tell a different story, but the ending is the same: People are moving there, working there, and paying rent there—and that’s what matters.

Before you chase the next big headline market, look at the quiet ones. They might not make the news, but they’ll make your portfolio stronger.