Best Places to Buy Rental Property in California (2026)

Cheap is not the same as high-yield in California. Oroville has the lowest median price on this list at $275,000 and ranks twentieth; Seal Beach, where a $390,000 home asks $3,610 a month, ranks first at 11.1 percent gross. Second is Laguna Woods: 7.8 percent gross, $455,000 to buy, $2,970 a month to rent. One caution on the rent side: in Cathedral City houses asked a median of $3,150 while the all-type median was $2,500. For a house, compare house rents with house sale prices; substituting the house rent into a ratio whose denominator is a mixed sale median only makes the number look better, not more representative. One caution on Seal Beach: its sales are shaped by Leisure World Seal Beach, an age-restricted stock cooperative, so review ownership type, occupancy requirements and association leasing rules before reading its ratio as an investable yield. Volume and yield part ways: Menifee closes about 197 homes a month, more than any other city here, and ranks eleventh on yield at 6.7 percent. For ten of these cities the page also shows a confirmed-close median; in Menifee, 170 confirmed lease closes carry a median of $2,997 against a $3,200 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so the gap describes the samples, not the same homes. Measured against the whole state, these are cheap markets: a median of $440,000 here against $727,150 statewide. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 261 California cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. A second table lists one city 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. Seal Beach, 11.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Seal Beach first here; on price alone it would sit eighth of 20. Homes in Seal Beach closed at a median of $390,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $3,610, a gross yield of 11.1 percent. Note: sales here are shaped by Leisure World Seal Beach, an age-restricted stock cooperative. Review ownership type, occupancy requirements and association leasing rules before reading this ratio as an investable yield. Houses there closed at about $433 per square foot. The Seal Beach market page carries the monthly figures.

2. Laguna Woods, 7.8 percent gross

Laguna Woods is one of the cities with a confirmed-close sample: 147 closes with a median of $2,850 beside a $2,970 asking median, a 4 percent difference between two separate samples, not a measured gap on the same listings. The numbers: $455,000 median closed price across 361 closings, $2,970 median asking rent across 380 listings, 7.8 percent gross. Note: sales here are shaped by Laguna Woods Village, an age-restricted community with cooperative and condominium mutuals and leasing approval rules. Review ownership type, occupancy requirements and association leasing rules before reading this ratio as an investable yield. The Laguna Woods market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Madera, 7.5 percent gross

Rent is what puts Madera third here; on price alone it would sit seventh of 20. Homes in Madera closed at a median of $385,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,400, a gross yield of 7.5 percent. Houses there closed at about $242 per square foot. See the Madera page for the property mix and the price band.

4. Indio, 7.4 percent gross

Rent is what puts Indio fourth here; on price alone it would sit fifteenth of 20. The numbers: $520,000 median closed price across 685 closings, $3,200 median asking rent across 607 listings, 7.4 percent gross. The Indio market page carries the monthly figures.

5. Lancaster, 7.0 percent gross

Lancaster's confirmed-close median, $2,712 on 44 closes, sits close to its $2,700 asking median; the samples are separate, so read it as agreement between two medians rather than a validated yield. At $460,000 to buy and $2,700 a month to rent, Lancaster yields 7.0 percent gross on 1,090 tracked closings. See the Lancaster page for the property mix and the price band.

6. Palmdale, 7.0 percent gross

Palmdale's confirmed-close median, $2,900 on 75 closes, sits close to its $2,900 asking median; the samples are separate, so read it as agreement between two medians rather than a validated yield. At $500,000 to buy and $2,900 a month to rent, Palmdale yields 7.0 percent gross on 820 tracked closings. The Palmdale market page carries the monthly figures.

7. Desert Hot Springs, 6.9 percent gross

In Desert Hot Springs the two samples agree: 31 confirmed lease closes have a median of $2,150, within a few percent of the $2,200 asking median, though the samples are separate rather than paired. At $382,411 to buy and $2,200 a month to rent, Desert Hot Springs yields 6.9 percent gross on 282 tracked closings. The Desert Hot Springs market page carries the monthly figures.

8. Crestline, 6.9 percent gross

Crestline is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: second on price, eighth on yield, because a $350,000 home there rents for only $2,000. At $350,000 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Crestline yields 6.9 percent gross on 217 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Crestline market page.

9. Palm Desert, 6.9 percent gross

Palm Desert also carries a confirmed-close median: 51 confirmed lease closes in the last twelve months have a median of $2,795, 7 percent below the $3,000 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so this describes the samples rather than the same homes. Homes in Palm Desert closed at a median of $525,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $3,000, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. See the Palm Desert page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Victorville, 6.8 percent gross

Victorville is one of the cities with a confirmed-close sample: 92 closes with a median of $2,492 beside a $2,400 asking median, a 4 percent difference between two separate samples, not a measured gap on the same listings. The numbers: $425,000 median closed price across 861 closings, $2,400 median asking rent across 930 listings, 6.8 percent gross. Full detail is on the Victorville market page.

11. Menifee, 6.7 percent gross

Menifee also carries a confirmed-close median: 170 confirmed lease closes in the last twelve months have a median of $2,997, 6 percent below the $3,200 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so this describes the samples rather than the same homes. The numbers: $570,500 median closed price across 1,181 closings, $3,200 median asking rent across 1,025 listings, 6.7 percent gross. Full detail is on the Menifee market page.

12. Hanford, 6.7 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Hanford far: it is fourth cheapest on this list and twelfth on yield, with rent of $2,100 against a $375,000 median price. Homes in Hanford closed at a median of $375,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,100, a gross yield of 6.7 percent. Houses there closed at about $232 per square foot. Full detail is on the Hanford market page.

13. Beaumont, 6.7 percent gross

Beaumont's confirmed-close median, $2,965 on 40 closes, sits close to its $2,925 asking median; the samples are separate, so read it as agreement between two medians rather than a validated yield. Homes in Beaumont closed at a median of $525,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,925, a gross yield of 6.7 percent. See the Beaumont page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Rancho Mirage, 6.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Rancho Mirage fourteenth here; on price alone it would sit twentieth of 20. At $814,000 to buy and $4,500 a month to rent, Rancho Mirage yields 6.6 percent gross on 489 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $367 per square foot. The Rancho Mirage market page carries the monthly figures.

15. Banning, 6.6 percent gross

Banning also carries a confirmed-close median: 32 confirmed lease closes in the last twelve months have a median of $2,300, 10 percent above the $2,100 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so this describes the samples rather than the same homes. The numbers: $380,000 median closed price across 447 closings, $2,100 median asking rent across 237 listings, 6.6 percent gross. Full detail is on the Banning market page.

16. Watsonville, 6.6 percent gross

The numbers: $635,000 median closed price across 211 closings, $3,500 median asking rent across 204 listings, 6.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $473 per square foot. See the Watsonville page for the property mix and the price band.

17. Phelan, 6.6 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Phelan far: it is ninth cheapest on this list and seventeenth on yield, with rent of $2,300 against a $420,000 median price. The numbers: $420,000 median closed price across 297 closings, $2,300 median asking rent across 63 listings, 6.6 percent gross. See the Phelan page for the property mix and the price band.

18. Cathedral City, 6.6 percent gross

In Cathedral City the two samples agree: 31 confirmed lease closes have a median of $2,500, within a few percent of the $2,500 asking median, though the samples are separate rather than paired. Homes in Cathedral City closed at a median of $457,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,500, a gross yield of 6.6 percent. See the Cathedral City page for the property mix and the price band.

19. Tehachapi, 6.5 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Tehachapi far: it is third cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $2,000 against a $367,650 median price. The numbers: $367,650 median closed price across 158 closings, $2,000 median asking rent across 245 listings, 6.5 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $253 per square foot. Full detail is on the Tehachapi market page.

20. Oroville, 6.5 percent gross

Oroville is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: first on price, twentieth on yield, because a $275,000 home there rents for only $1,495. The numbers: $275,000 median closed price across 151 closings, $1,495 median asking rent across 271 listings, 6.5 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $216 per square foot. The Oroville market page carries the monthly figures.

Priced, but too few rentals to rank

These cities cleared 100 tracked closings but fewer than 50 rental listings carried their name in the last twelve months, so no yield is printed for them.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every California 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: 261 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 $727,150 across 192,516 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 California rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in California 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 California cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The California housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest California 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.