Rental Property Calculator (2026): Cash-on-Cash, Cap Rate and Cash Flow With Real Inputs for All 50 States
Quick Answer
This page has a free rental property calculator and the numbers to put in it. Enter a price, rent, taxes, insurance, vacancy and loan terms and it returns net operating income (NOI), cap rate, monthly cash flow, cash-on-cash return, debt-service coverage, gross rent multiplier and the 1% rule. As of October 7, 2026, the public inputs look like this. The Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) puts the US median gross rent at $1,487 a month, the median home value at $360,600 and the median real estate tax bill at $3,211, an effective rate of 0.89% (our arithmetic). Monthly rent divided by value is 0.41% nationally, and no state reaches the 1% rule: the highest is Mississippi at 0.53%, the lowest Hawaii at 0.22% (our arithmetic). The NAIC's July 2026 report (2023 data) puts the average dwelling-fire premium at $1,019 a year and the average HO-3 homeowners premium at $1,737, and the Census Bureau's second-quarter 2026 rental vacancy rate is 7.3%. Put those medians in the calculator with 25% down, a 7.5% 30-year loan, 5% maintenance, 5% capital reserve and 8% management (assumptions of ours, not data) and the cap rate is 2.55%, from 1.25% in New Jersey to 3.80% in West Virginia, and monthly cash flow is negative in all 50 states and DC. At the US medians the house would need to rent for about $2,980 a month, twice the median rent, to break even. Medians are not a deal. They show how far an average market sits from the rules of thumb, and which inputs to replace with your own quotes.
Rental Property Calculator: cash flow, cap rate and cash-on-cash return
Purchase
Income
Financing
Annual expenses
| Gross scheduled income | $28,800 |
| − Vacancy | $1,440 |
| − Operating expenses (38% of collected) | $10,469 |
| Net operating income (NOI) | $16,891 |
| − Debt service ($1,573/mo on $225,000) | $18,879 |
| Annual cash flow | -$1,988 |
| Cash invested (down + closing + repairs) | $84,000 |
| Gross rent multiplier | 10.4 |
| 1% rule (monthly rent ÷ price + repairs) | 0.80% |
Formulas: NOI = gross income − vacancy − operating expenses (taxes, insurance, HOA, maintenance, capital-expenditure reserve, management; not the mortgage). Cap rate = NOI ÷ price. Cash flow = NOI − annual principal and interest. Cash-on-cash = annual cash flow ÷ cash invested. DSCR = NOI ÷ annual debt service (lenders often use rent ÷ PITIA instead). The 1% and 50% rules are rules of thumb, not standards. Defaults are illustrative; replace every input with your property's numbers. This is a calculator, not investment advice.
Key Takeaways
- Rent versus price: the ACS 2024 median gross rent is $1,487 and the median home value $360,600, so monthly rent is 0.41% of value. Across the 50 states and DC the range is 0.22% (Hawaii) to 0.53% (Mississippi); no state reaches the 1% rule, and HUD's FY2027 3-bedroom FMR tops out at 0.76% of the metro median value in the 25 largest metros (our arithmetic).
- Property tax: the median real estate tax paid is 0.89% of the median home value nationally, from 0.27% in Hawaii to 1.92% in Illinois; Texas is 1.31%, Florida 0.75%, California 0.71% (ACS 2024, our arithmetic).
- Insurance: the NAIC's 2023 averages are $1,019 (dwelling fire) and $1,737 (HO-3); dwelling-fire averages run from $365 (District of Columbia) to $2,524 (Mississippi). The NAIC defines dwelling fire for owner-occupied one-family buildings, not landlord policies, so it is a floor for quote shopping.
- Vacancy: the Census Bureau's rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026: 8.0% in principal cities, 6.9% in suburbs, 5.8% outside metro areas; 9.5% in the South, 5.3% in the West.
- At the US medians with 25% down and a 7.5% loan, the cap rate is 2.55% (1.25% in New Jersey to 3.80% in West Virginia), cash flow is -$1,124 a month and cash-on-cash -13.4%. The loan's yearly payment is 8.39% of the loan, above the cap rate, so borrowing lowers cash-on-cash: 2.5% all cash against -13.4% with 25% down (our arithmetic).
- HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rents, effective October 1, 2026, put the 2-bedroom rent in the 25 largest metros between $1,349 and $3,697, and moved it from -6.4% (Dallas) to +12.9% (Chicago) against FY2026 (our arithmetic).
CSV · 910 rows
Rental property calculator inputs: ACS 2024 rent, home value and property tax by state, NAIC 2023 insurance premiums, Census vacancy, HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents
Median gross rent, median home value and median real estate taxes by state (Census ACS 2024), NAIC 2023 average premiums, rental vacancy, HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents for the 25 largest metros, the Fannie Mae 75% factor and our derived ratios. One source per row.
What the calculator computes, and the formula behind each number
Every output of the calculator above is one line of arithmetic. Knowing the line is what lets you check a listing, a broker's pro forma or another calculator against it. Everything is pre-tax and for year one.
| Output | Formula in the calculator | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Gross scheduled income | (monthly rent + other income) x 12 | What the property bills if every unit is rented all year |
| Vacancy | gross scheduled income x vacancy % | Rent you will not collect |
| Operating expenses | property tax + insurance + HOA x 12 + maintenance % x rent + capital reserve % x rent + management % x collected rent | Cost of owning, before any mortgage |
| Net operating income (NOI) | collected income - operating expenses | What the building earns on its own |
| Cap rate | NOI / price | Yield if you paid cash; compare properties with it. See our [cap rate calculator](/articles/cap-rate-calculator) |
| Monthly cash flow | (NOI - annual principal and interest) / 12 | What reaches your pocket after the loan payment |
| Cash-on-cash return | annual cash flow / (down payment + closing costs + repairs) | Yearly return on the cash you actually put in |
| DSCR | NOI / annual debt service | Whether the property covers its loan. Lenders often use rent / PITIA instead; see our [DSCR loan calculator](/articles/dscr-loan-calculator-2026) |
| Gross rent multiplier (GRM) | price / gross annual rent | A quick price check that ignores expenses |
| 1% rule | monthly rent / (price + repairs) | A rule of thumb: 1% or more passes the first screen |
What it leaves out matters as much: income tax and depreciation, appreciation, principal paydown (which builds equity but is not cash), refinancing and sale costs. If you want to save deals and project them over many years, our DealCheck pricing and review covers what that software costs and what its free tier includes.
Cash-on-cash return: why a loan can make it worse
Cash-on-cash return is annual cash flow divided by the cash you invested. Borrowing raises it only when the property's cap rate is higher than the loan's yearly payment as a share of the amount borrowed (the loan constant). On a 30-year loan at 7.5% the constant is 8.39% (our arithmetic). When the cap rate is below that, each borrowed dollar lowers cash-on-cash; this is called negative leverage.
At the US medians from the Census, NAIC and HUD sources below (rent $1,487, value $360,600, tax $3,211, insurance $1,019), the cap rate is 2.55%, far below 8.39%:
| Down payment | Loan | Monthly principal and interest | Annual cash flow | Cash invested (incl. 3% closing) | Cash-on-cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | none | $0 | $9,204 | $371,418 | 2.5% |
| 50% | $180,300 | $1,261 | -$5,925 | $191,118 | -3.1% |
| 25% | $270,450 | $1,891 | -$13,489 | $100,968 | -13.4% |
| 20% | $288,480 | $2,017 | -$15,001 | $82,938 | -18.1% |
All rows: $360,600 price, $1,487 rent, 7.3% vacancy, 5% maintenance, 5% capital reserve, 8% management, 7.5% 30-year loan (our arithmetic with the calculator's formulas; the last five assumptions are ours).
The rate matters, but so does the rent. The monthly rent at which cash flow is exactly zero for this house and a 25% down payment:
| Loan rate | Monthly principal and interest | Break-even monthly rent | As % of price | Multiple of the median rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5% | $1,536 | $2,508 | 0.70% | 1.69x |
| 6.5% | $1,709 | $2,739 | 0.76% | 1.84x |
| 7.5% | $1,891 | $2,980 | 0.83% | 2.00x |
| 8.5% | $2,080 | $3,230 | 0.90% | 2.17x |
A break-even rent near twice the median says something about the median house, not about your deal. Many investors buy homes that cost less than the median, or rent houses for more than the median renter pays; the calculator lets you test exactly that.
Rent and price by state: Census ACS 2024
The first two inputs of any rental calculation are what the property costs and what it rents for. The Census Bureau's 2024 ACS 1-year estimates give a median gross rent (table B25064) and a median value of owner-occupied homes (table B25077) for every state. We divided one by the other, and ran the calculator's formulas on each state's medians together with the tax and insurance columns of the next table (our arithmetic).
Across the 50 states and DC, monthly rent is between 0.22% (Hawaii) and 0.53% (Mississippi) of the median home value, and the middle state is at 0.39%. Only Mississippi and West Virginia are at or above 0.5%; no state is near 1%. To pass the 1% rule at the national median value of $360,600, rent would have to be $3,606 a month, 2.4 times the median rent of $1,487 (our arithmetic). Run through the calculator's formulas, the same medians give an implied cap rate from 1.25% in New Jersey to 3.80% in West Virginia, and 2.55% nationally.
| State | Median gross rent (monthly) | Median home value | Monthly rent / value | Implied cap rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $1,487 | $360,600 | 0.41% | 2.55% |
| Alabama | $1,077 | $233,300 | 0.46% | 3.50% |
| Alaska | $1,444 | $376,500 | 0.38% | 2.28% |
| Arizona | $1,672 | $426,000 | 0.39% | 2.97% |
| Arkansas | $982 | $215,600 | 0.46% | 3.33% |
| California | $2,104 | $759,500 | 0.28% | 1.57% |
| Colorado | $1,822 | $574,600 | 0.32% | 2.20% |
| Connecticut | $1,550 | $396,900 | 0.39% | 1.57% |
| Delaware | $1,530 | $371,600 | 0.41% | 3.12% |
| District of Columbia | $1,931 | $733,400 | 0.26% | 1.70% |
| Florida | $1,812 | $396,900 | 0.46% | 3.13% |
| Georgia | $1,506 | $343,300 | 0.44% | 3.00% |
| Hawaii | $1,942 | $875,900 | 0.22% | 1.66% |
| Idaho | $1,384 | $446,400 | 0.31% | 2.22% |
| Illinois | $1,322 | $280,700 | 0.47% | 2.01% |
| Indiana | $1,104 | $243,500 | 0.45% | 3.05% |
| Iowa | $981 | $227,300 | 0.43% | 2.32% |
| Kansas | $1,079 | $238,700 | 0.45% | 2.67% |
| Kentucky | $998 | $226,000 | 0.44% | 3.08% |
| Louisiana | $1,064 | $223,200 | 0.48% | 2.92% |
| Maine | $1,210 | $341,900 | 0.35% | 2.13% |
| Maryland | $1,721 | $436,300 | 0.39% | 2.44% |
| Massachusetts | $1,848 | $607,400 | 0.30% | 1.58% |
| Michigan | $1,168 | $254,200 | 0.46% | 2.57% |
| Minnesota | $1,291 | $344,600 | 0.37% | 2.20% |
| Mississippi | $990 | $186,500 | 0.53% | 2.79% |
| Missouri | $1,067 | $254,400 | 0.42% | 2.72% |
| Montana | $1,177 | $425,400 | 0.28% | 1.62% |
| Nebraska | $1,102 | $263,100 | 0.42% | 2.08% |
| Nevada | $1,709 | $455,500 | 0.38% | 2.80% |
| New Hampshire | $1,558 | $458,800 | 0.34% | 1.45% |
| New Jersey | $1,800 | $496,000 | 0.36% | 1.25% |
| New Mexico | $1,117 | $279,900 | 0.40% | 2.63% |
| New York | $1,634 | $449,800 | 0.36% | 1.68% |
| North Carolina | $1,338 | $333,000 | 0.40% | 2.90% |
| North Dakota | $980 | $266,100 | 0.37% | 2.17% |
| Ohio | $1,090 | $239,800 | 0.45% | 2.55% |
| Oklahoma | $1,044 | $222,100 | 0.47% | 3.14% |
| Oregon | $1,597 | $497,500 | 0.32% | 1.94% |
| Pennsylvania | $1,252 | $277,600 | 0.45% | 2.72% |
| Rhode Island | $1,418 | $455,700 | 0.31% | 1.48% |
| South Carolina | $1,272 | $299,500 | 0.42% | 3.20% |
| South Dakota | $999 | $289,600 | 0.34% | 1.92% |
| Tennessee | $1,284 | $332,600 | 0.39% | 2.84% |
| Texas | $1,475 | $313,200 | 0.47% | 2.55% |
| Utah | $1,593 | $545,200 | 0.29% | 2.07% |
| Vermont | $1,319 | $352,800 | 0.37% | 1.77% |
| Virginia | $1,646 | $403,500 | 0.41% | 2.85% |
| Washington | $1,824 | $602,200 | 0.30% | 1.80% |
| West Virginia | $883 | $170,800 | 0.52% | 3.80% |
| Wisconsin | $1,142 | $294,700 | 0.39% | 2.05% |
| Wyoming | $998 | $339,500 | 0.29% | 1.79% |
Rent and value: Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064 and B25077. Implied cap rate: NOI at the state's median rent, value, real estate tax and NAIC dwelling-fire premium, with 7.3% vacancy, 5% maintenance, 5% capital reserve and 8% management (our arithmetic; the last four are assumptions). Before maintenance, reserve and management, the same arithmetic gives 2.01% (New Jersey) to 4.88% (West Virginia).
How to read this table. The two medians describe different populations. Rent is the median across all renters, in apartments and houses of every age; value is the median across all owner-occupied homes. A single-family rental can rent for more than the renter median, and investors often buy below the owner median. The ratio is a map of where the 1% rule is hardest and easiest to meet, not a prediction for your street. What carries information is the order: Mississippi, West Virginia and Louisiana are the closest to 1%, Hawaii, DC and Montana the furthest.
Property tax, insurance and vacancy by state
The next three inputs are the expenses a rental investor most often guesses. This table gives the public number for each state next to the others.
Property tax. Nationally the median real estate tax paid was $3,211, 0.89% of the median home value. By state the effective rate runs from 0.27% (Hawaii) to 1.92% (Illinois); New Jersey is at 1.89%, Texas at 1.31%, Florida at 0.75% and California at 0.71%. Taxes plus the NAIC dwelling-fire premium equal 23.7% of a year's median rent nationally, 46.5% in New Jersey and 12.1% in Delaware (our arithmetic). Two cautions: the figure describes existing owners, and where a sale triggers a new assessment, the bill on a house you just bought can be higher or lower than the state median.
| State | Median real estate tax paid (yearly) | Tax / median value | NAIC avg premium, dwelling fire | NAIC avg premium, HO-3 | Rental vacancy (ACS 2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $3,211 | 0.89% | $1,019 | $1,737 | 5.7% |
| Alabama | $890 | 0.38% | $684 | $1,906 | 7.6% |
| Alaska | $3,976 | 1.06% | $482 | $1,216 | 6.7% |
| Arizona | $1,828 | 0.43% | $636 | $1,194 | 6.8% |
| Arkansas | $1,113 | 0.52% | $571 | $1,870 | 6.0% |
| California | $5,369 | 0.71% | $1,697 | $1,655 | 4.3% |
| Colorado | $2,828 | 0.49% | $964 | $2,492 | 4.6% |
| Connecticut | $6,573 | 1.66% | $1,190 | $2,036 | 4.3% |
| Delaware | $1,750 | 0.47% | $478 | $1,196 | 7.6% |
| District of Columbia | $4,594 | 0.63% | $365 | $1,545 | 6.7% |
| Florida | $2,993 | 0.75% | $950 | $2,779 | 8.4% |
| Georgia | $2,554 | 0.74% | $741 | $1,828 | 7.7% |
| Hawaii | $2,385 | 0.27% | $643 | $1,549 | 5.9% |
| Idaho | $1,912 | 0.43% | $671 | $1,135 | 4.8% |
| Illinois | $5,399 | 1.92% | $888 | $1,480 | 4.2% |
| Indiana | $1,798 | 0.74% | $753 | $1,259 | 5.2% |
| Iowa | $2,937 | 1.29% | $641 | $1,342 | 5.7% |
| Kansas | $2,983 | 1.25% | $391 | $1,733 | 5.8% |
| Kentucky | $1,611 | 0.71% | $449 | $1,525 | 4.2% |
| Louisiana | $1,187 | 0.53% | $1,906 | $3,027 | 8.1% |
| Maine | $3,103 | 0.91% | $549 | $1,150 | 3.6% |
| Maryland | $4,144 | 0.95% | $778 | $1,578 | 4.8% |
| Massachusetts | $6,080 | 1.00% | $1,000 | $2,134 | 3.6% |
| Michigan | $2,988 | 1.18% | $1,033 | $1,110 | 5.7% |
| Minnesota | $3,501 | 1.02% | $570 | $1,988 | 5.7% |
| Mississippi | $1,221 | 0.65% | $2,524 | $2,029 | 7.1% |
| Missouri | $2,021 | 0.79% | $694 | $1,589 | 5.1% |
| Montana | $2,939 | 0.69% | $823 | $1,768 | 4.9% |
| Nebraska | $3,739 | 1.42% | $739 | $2,142 | 3.7% |
| Nevada | $2,143 | 0.47% | $541 | $1,013 | 7.2% |
| New Hampshire | $6,707 | 1.46% | $715 | $1,300 | 3.8% |
| New Jersey | $9,358 | 1.89% | $691 | $1,551 | 3.7% |
| New Mexico | $1,776 | 0.63% | $958 | $1,490 | 6.8% |
| New York | $6,542 | 1.45% | $649 | $1,801 | 3.8% |
| North Carolina | $2,044 | 0.61% | $372 | $1,852 | 7.4% |
| North Dakota | $2,550 | 0.96% | $517 | $1,414 | 3.2% |
| Ohio | $2,937 | 1.22% | $790 | $1,116 | 4.8% |
| Oklahoma | $1,672 | 0.75% | $782 | $2,486 | 5.9% |
| Oregon | $3,895 | 0.78% | $886 | $1,003 | 5.1% |
| Pennsylvania | $3,214 | 1.16% | $539 | $1,217 | 4.8% |
| Rhode Island | $4,886 | 1.07% | $1,185 | $2,396 | 3.8% |
| South Carolina | $1,337 | 0.45% | $564 | $1,753 | 7.9% |
| South Dakota | $2,940 | 1.02% | $524 | $1,614 | 7.1% |
| Tennessee | $1,488 | 0.45% | $655 | $1,649 | 6.7% |
| Texas | $4,108 | 1.31% | $1,226 | $2,864 | 8.5% |
| Utah | $2,648 | 0.49% | $451 | $1,107 | 6.1% |
| Vermont | $5,026 | 1.42% | $651 | $1,215 | 2.1% |
| Virginia | $2,872 | 0.71% | $497 | $1,537 | 4.3% |
| Washington | $4,729 | 0.79% | $886 | $1,232 | 4.8% |
| West Virginia | $881 | 0.52% | $612 | $1,179 | 5.7% |
| Wisconsin | $3,680 | 1.25% | $605 | $923 | 4.3% |
| Wyoming | $1,947 | 0.57% | $1,007 | $1,853 | 3.4% |
Tax: Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year estimates, table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, all owner-occupied units); tax / value is our arithmetic (a ratio of two medians). Premiums: NAIC, Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owner's Insurance Report: Data for 2023 (July 2026), Table 4, total row, all coverage amounts. Vacancy: vacant units for rent divided by (renter-occupied units + units rented but not occupied + units for rent), ACS tables B25003 and B25004 (our arithmetic, built on the Census Housing Vacancy Survey's definition).
Insurance. The NAIC's report on 2023 data, published in July 2026, gives a countrywide average premium of $1,019 for dwelling fire and $1,737 for HO-3. Among states, dwelling-fire averages run from $365 (District of Columbia) to $2,524 (Mississippi); Louisiana is at $1,906, California $1,697 and Texas $1,226. HO-3 averages run from $923 (Wisconsin) to $3,027 (Louisiana). Some state dwelling-fire averages rest on few policies: the District of Columbia's $365 covers 527.1 house-years, against 2,119,464.1 countrywide. These are 2023 averages across all coverage amounts, not quotes for a rental; see the note on their limits in the input section below.
Vacancy. The Census Bureau's Housing Vacancy Survey puts the national rental vacancy rate at 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, against 7.0% a year earlier: 8.0% in principal cities, 6.9% in suburbs and 5.8% outside metropolitan areas; 9.5% in the South, 6.9% in the Midwest, 5.9% in the Northeast and 5.3% in the West. The state column above is built from the ACS 2024 counts, a different survey and period (it gives 5.7% for the US), so use it to rank states and use the HVS figure for the level. Texas, Florida and Louisiana are the highest; Vermont, North Dakota and Wyoming the lowest.
The 25 largest metros: HUD Fair Market Rents and Census metro medians
State medians hide the market you are buying in. For the 25 largest metropolitan areas (ranked by the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 population estimate) we pair two sources. HUD's FY2027 Fair Market Rents, effective October 1, 2026, are what HUD calls its “best effort to estimate the 40th percentile gross rent paid by recent movers into standard quality units in each FMR area”; they are a rent floor for ordinary units, the number voucher programs use, and a sanity check on a rent you are told is achievable. The Census Bureau's 2024 ACS gives the median rent, median value and median real estate tax for the whole metro.
HUD splits several metros into more than one rent area. For each we used the HUD area that holds the metro's largest or principal city, and the table names it. A HUD area is smaller than the Census metro in most cases, so the last column is a screening ratio, not a precise yield.
| Rank | Metro (Census) | Population 2025 | HUD area used | 2-bedroom FMR | 3-bedroom FMR | 2-bedroom vs FY2026 | 3-bedroom FMR / metro median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 20,112,448 | New York, NY HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,971 | $3,760 | +2.1% | 0.58% |
| 2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 12,844,441 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,964 | $3,760 | +2.1% | 0.41% |
| 3 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 9,434,123 | Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,011 | $2,586 | +12.9% | 0.76% |
| 4 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 8,477,157 | Dallas, TX HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,807 | $2,275 | -6.4% | 0.58% |
| 5 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 7,904,627 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,497 | $2,017 | -4.8% | 0.62% |
| 6 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 6,482,182 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,762 | $2,099 | -3.2% | 0.52% |
| 7 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 6,465,724 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,438 | $3,107 | +8.5% | 0.51% |
| 8 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 6,391,072 | Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,564 | $3,277 | +5.3% | 0.64% |
| 9 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 6,329,118 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA | $1,860 | $2,216 | +2.8% | 0.59% |
| 10 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 5,228,938 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ MSA | $1,734 | $2,287 | -5.7% | 0.49% |
| 11 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 5,034,221 | Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HUD Metro FMR Area | $3,008 | $3,584 | +2.3% | 0.53% |
| 12 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 4,769,007 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA | $2,103 | $2,771 | -4.5% | 0.48% |
| 13 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 4,630,041 | San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area | $3,697 | $4,832 | +2.6% | 0.43% |
| 14 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 4,390,913 | Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,459 | $1,777 | +3.4% | 0.65% |
| 15 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 4,161,883 | Seattle-Bellevue, WA HUD Metro FMR Area | $2,549 | $3,324 | +1.9% | 0.45% |
| 16 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 3,790,295 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,734 | $2,264 | +1.5% | 0.59% |
| 17 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 3,418,895 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA | $1,917 | $2,448 | -3.0% | 0.63% |
| 18 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 3,282,248 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA MSA | $2,823 | $3,743 | -5.9% | 0.41% |
| 19 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 3,092,037 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO MSA | $2,169 | $2,846 | +3.8% | 0.45% |
| 20 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 2,957,672 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA | $1,959 | $2,445 | -0.7% | 0.60% |
| 21 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 2,938,830 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,785 | $2,179 | +5.9% | 0.54% |
| 22 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 2,857,781 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD MSA | $2,006 | $2,509 | +8.0% | 0.62% |
| 23 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 2,814,421 | St. Louis, MO-IL HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,349 | $1,731 | +10.8% | 0.65% |
| 24 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 2,813,140 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX HUD Metro FMR Area | $1,441 | $1,864 | +1.1% | 0.61% |
| 25 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 2,620,945 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA | $1,817 | $2,292 | -1.9% | 0.47% |
HUD, FY2027 Fair Market Rents; the change is against the FY2026 figure in HUD's revised FY2026 file (our arithmetic). Population: Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates. Metro median value: ACS 2024, table B25077. The ratio is our arithmetic.
| Metro (Census) | Median gross rent (monthly) | Median home value | Monthly rent / value | Median real estate tax paid | Tax / median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $1,851 | $648,800 | 0.29% | $9,973 | 1.54% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $2,114 | $908,500 | 0.23% | $6,011 | 0.66% |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $1,469 | $339,700 | 0.43% | $6,461 | 1.90% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $1,718 | $389,500 | 0.44% | $5,616 | 1.44% |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $1,469 | $327,400 | 0.45% | $4,750 | 1.45% |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $1,770 | $402,100 | 0.44% | $3,254 | 0.81% |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $2,037 | $604,800 | 0.34% | $5,430 | 0.90% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $2,083 | $510,600 | 0.41% | $4,260 | 0.83% |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $1,567 | $375,100 | 0.42% | $5,016 | 1.34% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $1,819 | $470,600 | 0.39% | $1,883 | 0.40% |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $2,093 | $681,100 | 0.31% | $6,913 | 1.01% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $2,006 | $579,500 | 0.35% | $4,092 | 0.71% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $2,435 | $1,132,900 | 0.21% | $8,777 | 0.77% |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $1,248 | $271,600 | 0.46% | $3,489 | 1.28% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $2,050 | $743,000 | 0.28% | $6,294 | 0.85% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $1,444 | $384,300 | 0.38% | $4,113 | 1.07% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $1,776 | $387,400 | 0.46% | $2,876 | 0.74% |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $2,336 | $914,700 | 0.26% | $5,948 | 0.65% |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $1,943 | $631,000 | 0.31% | $3,387 | 0.54% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $1,877 | $409,400 | 0.46% | $3,012 | 0.74% |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $1,594 | $400,400 | 0.40% | $2,552 | 0.64% |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $1,633 | $403,000 | 0.41% | $3,927 | 0.97% |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | $1,154 | $268,300 | 0.43% | $3,014 | 1.12% |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $1,422 | $304,800 | 0.47% | $4,303 | 1.41% |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $1,784 | $482,800 | 0.37% | $6,896 | 1.43% |
Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year estimates for the metropolitan statistical area, tables B25064, B25077 and B25103; ratios are our arithmetic.
In these metros the FY2027 2-bedroom FMR runs from $1,349 (St. Louis, MO-IL HUD Metro FMR Area) to $3,697 (San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area). Dividing HUD's 3-bedroom FMR, the closest of HUD's sizes to a single-family rental, by the metro median home value gives 0.76% in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN down to 0.41% in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA; no metro reaches 1%. On the Census medians, monthly rent is 0.47% of value in San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX and 0.21% in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. The tax column is where the metros split most: the effective rate is 1.90% in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN and 0.40% in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, and the four Texas metros (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin) are all between 1.4% and 1.5% while Atlanta, Miami and Tampa are below 0.85% (our arithmetic).
Check the year on any FMR table you find. HUD published the FY2027 figures in the Federal Register on September 1, 2026, effective October 1, 2026, so a table headed FY2026 is a year old, and the change is not uniform: among these metros the 2-bedroom FMR moved from -6.4% in Dallas to +12.9% in Chicago (our arithmetic). A local housing authority can ask HUD to re-evaluate its area; HUD said it would post revised figures in April 2027 and list the areas where the FY2026 figures remain in effect in the meantime.
How to fill each input with a real source
The calculator has 15 inputs. Four of them (rent, vacancy, property tax and insurance) have a public benchmark you can look up in minutes, and this page gives it for every state. The rest come from your contract, your lender and your own records.
| Input | Where the real number comes from | National figure in these sources | What to do for your deal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price, closing costs, repairs | The contract, the lender's loan estimate, a contractor bid | ACS median home value $360,600 | Use the contract price; do not use a median |
| Monthly rent | A signed lease, the appraiser's rent schedule, comparable listings; HUD FMR as a floor | ACS median gross rent $1,487; HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR $1,349 to $3,697 in the 25 largest metros | Use the lower of the lease and market rent if a lender is involved |
| Vacancy | Census Housing Vacancy Survey, rental vacancy rate; ACS for states | 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026; 8.0% in principal cities, 5.8% outside metros | Raise it for a unit that is hard to rent or turns often |
| Property tax | The county assessor and tax collector for the exact parcel; the new assessed value after a sale | ACS median real estate tax $3,211, 0.89% of value | Ask whether the sale price resets the assessment before using any state rate |
| Insurance | A landlord (dwelling) policy quote for the exact property; NAIC averages as a check | NAIC 2023 average dwelling fire $1,019, HO-3 $1,737 | Get at least two quotes, and ask about wind, hail, flood and fire exclusions |
| HOA | The association's budget and special-assessment history | No national figure in these sources | Enter the current monthly dues |
| Maintenance, capital reserve, management | Your own repair history, the age of the roof and systems, a property manager's fee schedule | No public benchmark in these sources; the calculator defaults of 5%, 5% and 8% are ours | Use the manager's written fee and an inspection, not a rule of thumb |
| Down payment, rate, term | A written quote from lenders | None used; our examples use 25% down and 7.5% | Compare quotes with our [DSCR loan rates](/articles/dscr-loan-rates-2026) study and, for short-term loans, what investors paid in federal loan data on our [hard money loan rates](/articles/hard-money-loan-rates-2026) page |
On insurance, read the NAIC's own limits before you use its number. The report defines its dwelling-fire category as “one family, owner-occupied, non-seasonal buildings” and says the dwelling-fire data “are not directly comparable to the homeowners data.” It also warns that average premium is an imperfect measure of price because hazards, economic conditions and real estate values vary widely from state to state. In other words, a state average is a floor for the conversation with an agent, not a quote, and a property's own hazards can put its price far from its state's average.
Worked example: the median home at the median rent, and the best state on the list
The calculator's formulas, line by line, with two sets of inputs from the sources above. Column one is the US median home. Column two is West Virginia, the state with the highest implied cap rate on the list. Everything outside the first block of rows is an assumption of ours, so change it.
| Line | US medians | West Virginia medians |
|---|---|---|
| Price (median home value) | $360,600 | $170,800 |
| Monthly rent (median gross rent) | $1,487 | $883 |
| Gross scheduled income (rent x 12) | $17,844 | $10,596 |
| Vacancy at 7.3% | -$1,303 | -$774 |
| Collected income | $16,541 | $9,822 |
| Property tax (median real estate tax paid) | -$3,211 | -$881 |
| Insurance (NAIC average dwelling-fire premium) | -$1,019 | -$612 |
| Maintenance (5% of rent) | -$892 | -$530 |
| Capital reserve (5% of rent) | -$892 | -$530 |
| Management (8% of collected rent) | -$1,323 | -$786 |
| Net operating income (NOI) | $9,204 | $6,484 |
| Cap rate (NOI / price) | 2.55% | 3.80% |
| Loan (75% of price) | $270,450 | $128,100 |
| Monthly principal and interest, 7.5%, 30 years | $1,891 | $896 |
| Annual debt service | $22,692 | $10,748 |
| Annual cash flow (NOI - debt service) | -$13,489 | -$4,264 |
| Monthly cash flow | -$1,124 | -$355 |
| Cash invested (25% down + 3% closing) | $100,968 | $47,824 |
| Cash-on-cash return | -13.4% | -8.9% |
| DSCR (NOI / debt service) | 0.41 | 0.60 |
| Gross rent multiplier (price / gross rent) | 20.2 | 16.1 |
| 1% rule (monthly rent / price) | 0.41% | 0.52% |
Inputs: Census ACS 2024 (rent, value, tax), NAIC 2023 (dwelling-fire premium), Census HVS Q2 2026 (vacancy). Assumptions of ours: 5% maintenance and 5% capital reserve of rent, 8% management of collected rent, 3% closing costs, 25% down, 7.5% 30-year fixed. Arithmetic is the calculator's.
At the US medians the property earns 2.55% before any loan, below the 8.39% loan constant, so cash flow is -$1,124 a month and cash-on-cash -13.4%. West Virginia has the highest implied cap rate on the list (3.80%) and the same constant, so even there cash flow is -$355 a month and cash-on-cash -8.9%. For the US median house to break even at 7.5% and 25% down, rent would have to be $2,980 a month; at the median rent, the price that breaks even is about $146,000, with taxes and insurance held at the median (our arithmetic). Totals can differ by $1 because each line is rounded.
Rental income calculator: how a lender counts your rent
A “rental income calculator” can mean two different things: your own cash flow, which the tool above computes, or the income a mortgage lender will let you count to qualify. They are not the same. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, section B3-3.8-02 (published September 2, 2026), says that on a purchase “the lender must multiply monthly gross rent by 75% for the net rental income amount, then subtract the PITIA of the subject property from the net rental income.” PITIA is principal, interest, taxes, insurance and association dues. The 25% haircut stands in for vacancy and expenses, so a lender can count less rent than your own spreadsheet does.
Using the US medians and the loan from the example (our arithmetic): 75% of $1,487 is $1,115; the PITIA is the $1,891 payment plus $268 of taxes and $85 of insurance, $2,244; the difference is $1,128 short each month, and a negative result goes into the borrower's debt-to-income ratio. Lenders in the DSCR loan category judge the property's rent against its payment instead of your income; our DSCR loan calculator shows that formula.
BRRRR calculator: run the calculator twice
BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) changes the cash you have in the deal, not the formulas. The calculator above does not model the refinance in one pass, so use it in two steps with your own numbers.
- Before the refinance. Add up the all-in cost: purchase price, rehab, closing and holding costs. This is the cash you must find, from savings or a short-term loan.
- After the refinance. Enter the after-repair value as the price, the new loan terms, the rent and the expenses for the finished property. Read the monthly cash flow; it does not depend on how much cash you put in.
- Cash left in the deal. All-in cost minus the cash the refinance returns (new loan minus the old one). Divide the annual cash flow by that number for your cash-on-cash return. If the refinance returns everything you put in, cash-on-cash is undefined, which is the point of the strategy, and the cash flow and DSCR are what you check.
A hypothetical example, not data: $150,000 purchase, $40,000 rehab and $8,000 of closing and holding costs make $198,000 all-in. If the home appraises at $230,000 and the refinance is 75% of value, the new loan is $172,500 and about $25,500 stays in the deal ($198,000 minus $172,500). If the finished home then produces $3,000 a year of cash flow after the new payment, cash-on-cash is 11.8% on the $25,500 left in. A lender that refinances at a lower percentage of value, or an appraisal that comes in at $200,000 (a $150,000 loan, $48,000 left in), changes the answer sharply. Run the appraisal low before you buy.
The loan for step 1 is often a short-term loan. What those loans cost in federal data is in our hard money loan rates page.
What a reader can do with this
- Replace the medians with your property's numbers, in this order. Rent from a signed lease or comparable listings; property tax from the county for the parcel after the sale; insurance from two landlord-policy quotes; vacancy from the Census figure for your area type (8.0% in principal cities, 6.9% in suburbs, 5.8% outside metros in the second quarter of 2026) unless your unit's history says otherwise.
- Check the rent against HUD. If the rent you were quoted is far above the FY2027 Fair Market Rent for the bedroom count in your HUD area, find the comparable listings that support it. HUD's number is a 40th-percentile rent, so a good unit can beat it, but your lender and your tenant will both test it.
- Compare cap rate with the loan constant before you borrow. If the cap rate is below the loan's yearly payment as a share of the loan, the loan lowers your cash-on-cash return; the question is then whether appreciation or a lower rate is the reason you are buying.
- Stress the three inputs the medians show matter most. Rent, tax and insurance. Run the calculator at rent 10% lower, tax at the county's real figure, and insurance at the higher of your two quotes.
- Keep the 1% rule in proportion. In this data no state's median reaches it. It is a screen for finding candidates in the cheaper tail of a market, not a measure of whether a deal works; the calculator's cash flow, cap rate and DSCR are the measures.
If the deal needs a loan
The loan terms are the input the medians cannot supply, and they decide whether the cash-on-cash figure above is positive. A DSCR loan underwrites the property's rent against its payment instead of your income; our DSCR loan calculator shows the lender formula and our DSCR loan rates study shows what lenders charge. Short-term rehab and bridge loans are priced differently, and the federal loan data for them is in our hard money loan rates page. Get written quotes with the rate, points, fees and prepayment terms before you put a rate into the calculator.
If you want a note when the inputs on this page change, for example when HUD, the NAIC or the Census Bureau publish new figures, leave your email here.
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When Rental property calculator inputs files: what changed, the one number that matters, and the accession number to check it yourself.
FAQ
Rent, value, taxes and vacancy counts: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, tables B25064, B25077, B25103, B25003 and B25004, downloaded from the data.census.gov API on October 7, 2026 (state and metropolitan area files; variable labels from the Census API metadata). Metro ranking: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates for metropolitan statistical areas. Rental vacancy rates by area type and region: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Residential Vacancies and Homeownership, second quarter 2026 (release CB26-116, July 28, 2026). Insurance: NAIC, Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owner's Insurance Report: Data for 2023 (July 2026), Table 4. Fair Market Rents: HUD, FY2027 Fair Market Rents (huduser.gov, effective October 1, 2026), the FY2026 revised file for the year-over-year change, and Federal Register notice 2026-17891 of September 1, 2026. Lender rental income: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-02, Rental Income from the Subject Property (published September 2, 2026). All ratios, cap rates, cash flows, medians of states and break-even rents are our arithmetic using the formulas shown above; the assumptions about maintenance, capital reserve, management, closing costs, down payment and interest rate are ours, not data. Median figures describe markets, not any single property. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice, and not a loan offer.
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