Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Alabama (2026)

Start with Bessemer. It is the lowest entry price on this list, $127,725 at the median, and its $1,396 median asking rent turns that into 13.1 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, 105 confirmed lease closes carry a median of $1,995 against a $1,995 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, 13.1 percent gross

The numbers: $127,725 median closed price across 248 closings, $1,396 median asking rent across 670 listings, 13.1 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $84 per square foot. Full detail is on the Bessemer market page.

2. Montgomery, 12.0 percent gross

Homes in Montgomery closed at a median of $135,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,350, a gross yield of 12.0 percent. The Montgomery market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Birmingham, 10.3 percent gross

Homes in Birmingham closed at a median of $145,900 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,248, a gross yield of 10.3 percent. Houses there closed at about $93 per square foot. The Birmingham market page carries the monthly figures.

4. Mobile, 8.8 percent gross

At $205,000 to buy and $1,500 a month to rent, Mobile yields 8.8 percent gross on 1,207 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $127 per square foot. Full detail is on the Mobile market page.

5. Calera, 7.7 percent gross

Rent is what puts Calera fifth here; on price alone it would sit twelfth of 20. At $264,900 to buy and $1,706 a month to rent, Calera yields 7.7 percent gross on 326 tracked closings. See the Calera page for the property mix and the price band.

6. 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 $1,475, a gross yield of 7.7 percent. See the Enterprise page for the property mix and the price band.

7. Gadsden, 7.6 percent gross

Homes in Gadsden closed at a median of $155,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $980, a gross yield of 7.6 percent. Houses there closed at about $88 per square foot. Full detail is on the Gadsden market page.

8. Leeds, 7.6 percent gross

Leeds ranks eighth on yield but only thirteenth on entry price: the $1,699 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $269,900 median closed price across 300 closings, $1,699 median asking rent across 106 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $156 per square foot. Full detail is on the Leeds market page.

9. Daphne, 7.3 percent gross

In Daphne the two samples agree: 105 confirmed lease closes have a median of $1,995, within a few percent of the $1,995 asking median, though the samples are separate rather than paired. The numbers: $327,000 median closed price across 387 closings, $1,995 median asking rent across 608 listings, 7.3 percent gross. See the Daphne page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Dothan, 7.3 percent gross

The numbers: $222,000 median closed price across 581 closings, $1,350 median asking rent across 523 listings, 7.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $125 per square foot. See the Dothan page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Helena, 7.2 percent gross

Helena ranks eleventh on yield but only nineteenth on entry price: the $1,976 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $331,000 median closed price across 214 closings, $1,976 median asking rent across 197 listings, 7.2 percent gross. See the Helena 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 $1,935 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $328,000 median closed price across 425 closings, $1,935 median asking rent across 418 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 twentieth of 20. At $379,950 to buy and $2,235 a month to rent, Chelsea yields 7.1 percent gross on 230 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $175 per square foot. See the Chelsea page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Decatur, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Decatur far: it is eighth cheapest on this list and fourteenth on yield, with rent of $1,345 against a $230,000 median price. At $230,000 to buy and $1,345 a month to rent, Decatur yields 7.0 percent gross on 601 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $135 per square foot. See the Decatur page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Athens, 7.0 percent gross

The numbers: $290,082 median closed price across 436 closings, $1,695 median asking rent across 557 listings, 7.0 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $155 per square foot. See the Athens page for the property mix and the price band.

16. Harvest, 7.0 percent gross

The numbers: $308,500 median closed price across 205 closings, $1,800 median asking rent across 388 listings, 7.0 percent gross. The Harvest market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Phenix City, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Phenix City far: it is tenth cheapest on this list and seventeenth on yield, with rent of $1,395 against a $239,600 median price. Homes in Phenix City closed at a median of $239,600 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,395, a gross yield of 7.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $134 per square foot. The Phenix City market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Alabaster, 7.0 percent gross

At $309,900 to buy and $1,795 a month to rent, Alabaster yields 7.0 percent gross on 275 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 eleventh cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $1,495 against a $259,896 median price. Homes in Cullman closed at a median of $259,896 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. Anniston, 6.9 percent gross

Anniston is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fifth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $170,000 home there rents for only $975. Homes in Anniston closed at a median of $170,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $975, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. Houses there closed at about $93 per square foot. Full detail is on the Anniston market page.

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 September 10, 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 $290,000 across 41,958 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 September 10, 2026) and rental listings since September 10, 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.