Quick answer: Across the 100 most populous U.S. counties in this DispoKey study, a year of HUD's FY2026 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals a median 5.3% of the Census median home value. The range runs from 2.8% in San Mateo County, California to 9.5% in Wayne County, Michigan, and no county reaches the 1% monthly rule.
- Median annual rent-to-value: 5.3% (range 2.8% to 9.5%).
- 10 counties at 7% or higher; 14 below 4%.
- Cheaper counties show higher ratios: the correlation is -0.79.
Buy & Hold investors often compare markets with a quick rent-to-price screen before they look at a single property. Most published versions of that screen use asking rents from listings or a vendor's estimate. We wanted one built entirely from public data anyone can check, so we joined two federal datasets county by county and published the full table for download.
What does this rent-to-value ratio measure?
It divides a year of the county's two-bedroom Fair Market Rent by the county's median owner-occupied home value. It describes the market as a whole, not the return on any one house.
The rent side comes from HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents, effective October 1, 2025. HUD describes an FMR as its best estimate of the 40th percentile of rents paid by recent movers in a housing market, and builds it from two-bedroom gross rents, which include utilities. [1][2] The value side is the Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year median value of owner-occupied homes, which reflects owners' own estimates of what their homes would sell for. [3] Read the result like a gross yield for a typical rental and a typical owned home in the same county, before taxes, insurance, vacancy and repairs.
Which large counties have the highest rent-to-value ratios?
Older industrial and border counties lead the list. Wayne County, Michigan tops it at 9.5%, followed by Hidalgo County, Texas and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
| County | Median value | 2BR FMR | Annual ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne County, MI | $178,500 | $1,411 | 9.5% |
| Hidalgo County, TX | $140,900 | $1,060 | 9.0% |
| Philadelphia County, PA | $243,100 | $1,810 | 8.9% |
| Monroe County, NY | $213,700 | $1,573 | 8.8% |
| El Paso County, TX | $180,400 | $1,191 | 7.9% |
| Marion County, IN | $224,000 | $1,473 | 7.9% |
| Cuyahoga County, OH | $195,400 | $1,279 | 7.9% |
| Dallas County, TX | $303,000 | $1,931 | 7.6% |
| Jackson County, MO | $230,500 | $1,358 | 7.1% |
| Ocean County, NJ | $398,400 | $2,328 | 7.0% |
A high ratio is a starting point, not a verdict. In several of these counties the FMR is set for a wider metro area, so a central county with lower values borrows the rent level of its suburbs. Property taxes, insurance and the age of the housing stock can also absorb much of the gap. Check those costs before treating a 9% county as a cash-flow market.
Which large counties have the lowest ratios?
High-cost coastal and tech counties sit at the bottom, all below 4%. Rents there are the highest in the study, but home values are higher still.
| County | Median value | 2BR FMR | Annual ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo County, CA | $1,559,600 | $3,604 | 2.8% |
| Santa Clara County, CA | $1,490,600 | $3,483 | 2.8% |
| San Francisco County, CA | $1,394,500 | $3,604 | 3.1% |
| New York County, NY | $1,090,500 | $2,910 | 3.2% |
| Alameda County, CA | $1,090,100 | $2,912 | 3.2% |
| Utah County, UT | $538,700 | $1,460 | 3.3% |
| King County, WA | $859,900 | $2,501 | 3.5% |
| Honolulu County, HI | $897,500 | $2,642 | 3.5% |
| District of Columbia | $737,100 | $2,246 | 3.7% |
| Fairfax County, VA | $732,800 | $2,246 | 3.7% |
Investors still buy in these counties, usually for appreciation, a specific tenant base or a value-add plan rather than day-one cash flow. A low ratio tells you the rent alone will not carry a leveraged purchase at a typical price.
Does any large county meet the 1% rule?
No. The highest monthly figure in the study is about 0.79% of median value, in Wayne County. The 1% rule compares a specific property's rent with its all-in price, so it can still work on a discounted purchase. It does not describe a typical home in any of these 100 counties.
How should a Buy & Hold investor use these numbers?
Use the county ratio to decide where to look harder, then underwrite each property on its own rent, price and expenses.
Example numbers, for illustration only: in a county at 7.0%, a house bought at the median value would gross 7% a year at FMR rent. Buy 15% below that median and the gross figure rises to about 8.2% (7.0 ÷ 0.85). After a typical allowance for taxes, insurance, vacancy, repairs and management, the remaining cap rate is what matters for your loan. Run those inputs through the Buy & Hold calculator and our guide to rental property cash flow analysis.
Open the market-screen checklist
- County ratio from the downloadable table
- FMR area name: does it match the county or a wider metro?
- Effective property tax rate from the county assessor
- Insurance quotes for the property type and age
- Local vacancy and days on market for rentals
- Rent for the specific bedroom count, not just two bedrooms
If you plan to accept tenants using Housing Choice Vouchers, FMRs also inform local payment standards, so the figures can be a useful reference for Section 8 rents. Each housing authority sets its own standard, so confirm the current figure locally.
Methodology and limits
We used HUD's revised FY2026 county-level FMR file and the ACS 2020-2024 five-year estimates for every county, joined on the five-digit county code, then kept the 100 most populous counties by ACS population. [1][3][4]
Ratio = two-bedroom FMR × 12 ÷ median owner-occupied value. Limits: both inputs are area estimates with margins of error; FMRs cover a metro or county FMR area, so neighboring counties can share one rent; ACS values are owner estimates averaged over five years and can trail fast price changes; and a ratio of area medians is not the yield on a property. Counties in the six New England states were excluded, because HUD defines FMR areas there by town. The full 100-county table (CSV) also lists each county's FMR area and the same ratio using ACS median gross rent, which is lower than the FMR in 97 of the 100 counties.
When DispoKey may not be your best option
If you need financing contingencies or a long inspection window, off-market purchases may not suit your plan. Choose a route that matches how you fund deals.
If you buy for cash in the markets above, browse off-market properties and apply to the buyer network; marketplace access requires team approval. Related reading: buying a tenant-occupied property and finding off-market properties.
Key takeaways
Large-county rent-to-value ratios cluster near 5%, cheaper counties run higher, and none meets the 1% rule at median prices. Use the ratio to choose where to look, then underwrite each property's own rent and expenses. This is educational information, not investment advice.
