Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Alabama (2026)

Start with Bessemer. It is the lowest entry price on this list, $121,000 at the median, and its $1,400 median asking rent turns that into 13.9 percent gross, the best return the state's measurable cities offer. For one of these cities the page also shows a confirmed-close median; in Daphne, 90 confirmed lease closes carry a median of $2,000 against a $2,000 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so the gap describes the samples, not the same homes. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 40 Alabama cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. A second table lists two cities with enough closings to price but too few rental listings to rank.

The ranking

Gross yield here is an asking rental yield screen: twelve times the median asking rent over the median closed price, before taxes, insurance, vacancy, management or repairs. Sales use municipal boundaries. Rental listings use the associated city name and may cover a wider postal area. The ratio therefore compares related, but not perfectly matched, market samples, and a home bought at the median price does not necessarily earn the median rent. Confirmed-close medians appear where at least 30 confirmed lease closes were recorded in the window.

City by city

1. Bessemer, 13.9 percent gross

The numbers: $121,000 median closed price across 240 closings, $1,400 median asking rent across 700 listings, 13.9 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $83 per square foot. Full detail is on the Bessemer market page.

2. Montgomery, 11.9 percent gross

Homes in Montgomery closed at a median of $136,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,350, a gross yield of 11.9 percent. The Montgomery market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Birmingham, 10.3 percent gross

Homes in Birmingham closed at a median of $145,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,249, a gross yield of 10.3 percent. Houses there closed at about $90 per square foot. The Birmingham market page carries the monthly figures.

4. Mobile, 8.8 percent gross

At $203,750 to buy and $1,500 a month to rent, Mobile yields 8.8 percent gross on 1,154 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $126 per square foot. Full detail is on the Mobile market page.

5. Gadsden, 8.0 percent gross

Homes in Gadsden closed at a median of $149,750 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,000, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $88 per square foot. Full detail is on the Gadsden market page.

6. Calera, 7.8 percent gross

Rent is what puts Calera sixth here; on price alone it would sit tenth of 20. At $263,900 to buy and $1,706 a month to rent, Calera yields 7.8 percent gross on 303 tracked closings. See the Calera page for the property mix and the price band.

7. Enterprise, 7.7 percent gross

Homes in Enterprise closed at a median of $230,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,485, a gross yield of 7.7 percent. See the Enterprise page for the property mix and the price band.

8. Daphne, 7.5 percent gross

In Daphne the two samples agree: 90 confirmed lease closes have a median of $2,000, within a few percent of the $2,000 asking median, though the samples are separate rather than paired. The numbers: $319,950 median closed price across 366 closings, $2,000 median asking rent across 635 listings, 7.5 percent gross. See the Daphne page for the property mix and the price band.

9. Leeds, 7.5 percent gross

The numbers: $270,000 median closed price across 287 closings, $1,685 median asking rent across 109 listings, 7.5 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $157 per square foot. Full detail is on the Leeds market page.

10. Helena, 7.4 percent gross

Helena ranks tenth on yield but only seventeenth on entry price: the $1,995 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $325,000 median closed price across 208 closings, $1,995 median asking rent across 216 listings, 7.4 percent gross. See the Helena page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Dothan, 7.4 percent gross

Dothan is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: sixth on price, eleventh on yield, because a $220,000 home there rents for only $1,350. The numbers: $220,000 median closed price across 550 closings, $1,350 median asking rent across 563 listings, 7.4 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $125 per square foot. See the Dothan page for the property mix and the price band.

12. Foley, 7.1 percent gross

Foley ranks twelfth on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $1,950 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $329,000 median closed price across 395 closings, $1,950 median asking rent across 471 listings, 7.1 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $176 per square foot. The Foley market page carries the monthly figures.

13. Chelsea, 7.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Chelsea thirteenth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. At $379,900 to buy and $2,242 a month to rent, Chelsea yields 7.1 percent gross on 213 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $176 per square foot. See the Chelsea page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Athens, 7.0 percent gross

The numbers: $289,630 median closed price across 401 closings, $1,695 median asking rent across 593 listings, 7.0 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $154 per square foot. See the Athens page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Decatur, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Decatur far: it is eighth cheapest on this list and fifteenth on yield, with rent of $1,345 against a $230,745 median price. At $230,745 to buy and $1,345 a month to rent, Decatur yields 7.0 percent gross on 586 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $134 per square foot. See the Decatur page for the property mix and the price band.

16. Harvest, 7.0 percent gross

The numbers: $309,250 median closed price across 208 closings, $1,800 median asking rent across 415 listings, 7.0 percent gross. The Harvest market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Gulf Shores, 7.0 percent gross

At $429,500 to buy and $2,495 a month to rent, Gulf Shores yields 7.0 percent gross on 574 tracked closings. See the Gulf Shores page for the property mix and the price band.

18. Alabaster, 7.0 percent gross

At $310,000 to buy and $1,798 a month to rent, Alabaster yields 7.0 percent gross on 265 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $157 per square foot. See the Alabaster page for the property mix and the price band.

19. Cullman, 6.9 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Cullman far: it is ninth cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $1,495 against a $260,200 median price. Homes in Cullman closed at a median of $260,200 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,495, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. Houses there closed at about $158 per square foot. Full detail is on the Cullman market page.

20. Tuscaloosa, 6.7 percent gross

Tuscaloosa is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: twelfth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $285,000 home there rents for only $1,600. At $285,000 to buy and $1,600 a month to rent, Tuscaloosa yields 6.7 percent gross on 877 tracked closings. The Tuscaloosa market page carries the monthly figures.

Priced, but too few rentals to rank

Resideline can price these cities but cannot yet rank them on rent: each has 100 or more closings and fewer than 50 rental listings in the window.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Alabama city where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the municipal boundary in its reporting window (six or twelve months) and at least 50 rental listings under the city's name since October 3, 2025: 40 cities qualify and the table shows the 20 highest-yielding.
• •Prices: the median price homes closed at inside the city limits, from Resideline's tracked closings; the state comparison uses the statewide median of $289,900 across 40,397 closings.
• •Rents: the median advertised rent on rental listings Resideline tracked in the last twelve months, all property types, measured on the listings that carry the city's name (a postal footprint, wider than the city line in some places).
• •Confirmed-close medians: Observed rent blends two kinds of record: confirmed lease closes extracted from property records, and the final asking rent on listings that left Resideline tracking without a recorded close. Where a city has at least 30 confirmed closes in the window, their median is printed beside the asking figure; in the last twelve months about a quarter of Resideline's close episodes are confirmed closes. The asking and confirmed-close samples are separate, not paired, so a difference between their medians is not a measured gap on the same listings.
• •What is missing: taxes, insurance, vacancy, management and repairs, which turn a gross yield into a net one, and the unit mix, which differs between what sells and what rents.

Sources and related pages

• •Resideline tracked closings inside city limits (window per city, updated October 4, 2026) and rental listings since October 3, 2025; confirmed lease closes extracted from property records.
• •More Alabama rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Alabama ranks the same kind of list with each city's price per square foot for houses, realized appreciation and days to contract beside the median, and Cap Rate by City ranks the Alabama cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Alabama housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Alabama markets by closings.
• •Asking rent vs observed rent compares live asking rents with final asking rents under that study's own definition; it says nothing about confirmed lease closes.

Prepared with Resideline's research pipeline and reviewed by Jeffrey Batista, Resideline's founder.