Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Georgia (2026)

Start with Brunswick. It is the lowest entry price on this list, $170,439 at the median, and its $1,799 median asking rent turns that into 12.7 percent gross, the best return the state's measurable cities offer. Volume and yield part ways: Columbus closes about 196 homes a month, more than any other city here, and ranks fifteenth on yield at 8.2 percent. Two cities on this list carry a confirmed-close median as well as an asking median. Augusta has the largest close sample, 100, with a median of $1,400, level with the $1,395 asking median; the samples are separate, so this is not evidence that the same homes leased above or below their advertised rent. Measured against the whole state, these are cheap markets: a median of $247,472 here against $355,000 statewide. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 89 Georgia cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. Two more cities clear the closings bar but not the rental one and appear in a second table with entry price only.

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. Brunswick, 12.7 percent gross

At $170,439 to buy and $1,799 a month to rent, Brunswick yields 12.7 percent gross on 180 tracked closings. See the Brunswick page for the property mix and the price band.

2. Riverdale, 10.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Riverdale second here; on price alone it would sit sixth of 20. The numbers: $210,000 median closed price across 118 closings, $1,775 median asking rent across 1,390 listings, 10.1 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $130 per square foot. See the Riverdale page for the property mix and the price band.

3. Conyers, 10.1 percent gross

Conyers ranks third on yield but only eighth on entry price: the $1,900 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $226,250 to buy and $1,900 a month to rent, Conyers yields 10.1 percent gross on 216 tracked closings. See the Conyers page for the property mix and the price band.

4. Warner Robins, 9.0 percent gross

Homes in Warner Robins closed at a median of $200,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,500, a gross yield of 9.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $130 per square foot. See the Warner Robins page for the property mix and the price band.

5. Lithonia, 9.0 percent gross

Rent is what puts Lithonia fifth here; on price alone it would sit eleventh of 20. Homes in Lithonia closed at a median of $250,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,875, a gross yield of 9.0 percent. Full detail is on the Lithonia market page.

6. Jackson, 9.0 percent gross

Jackson ranks sixth on yield but only tenth on entry price: the $1,830 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. Homes in Jackson closed at a median of $244,944 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,830, a gross yield of 9.0 percent. Full detail is on the Jackson market page.

7. Thomasville, 8.9 percent gross

The numbers: $223,250 median closed price across 214 closings, $1,650 median asking rent across 187 listings, 8.9 percent gross. Full detail is on the Thomasville market page.

8. Ludowici, 8.8 percent gross

Rent is what puts Ludowici eighth here; on price alone it would sit fourteenth of 20. Homes in Ludowici closed at a median of $285,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,100, a gross yield of 8.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $147 per square foot. See the Ludowici page for the property mix and the price band.

9. Hinesville, 8.6 percent gross

At $244,605 to buy and $1,750 a month to rent, Hinesville yields 8.6 percent gross on 301 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Hinesville market page.

10. Milledgeville, 8.6 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Milledgeville far: it is third cheapest on this list and tenth on yield, with rent of $1,395 against a $195,000 median price. Homes in Milledgeville closed at a median of $195,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,395, a gross yield of 8.6 percent. Houses there closed at about $112 per square foot. The Milledgeville market page carries the monthly figures.

11. Augusta, 8.4 percent gross

In Augusta the two samples agree: 100 confirmed lease closes have a median of $1,400, within a few percent of the $1,395 asking median, though the samples are separate rather than paired. Homes in Augusta closed at a median of $199,700 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,395, a gross yield of 8.4 percent. The Augusta market page carries the monthly figures.

12. Auburn, 8.3 percent gross

Rent is what puts Auburn twelfth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. At $331,080 to buy and $2,291 a month to rent, Auburn yields 8.3 percent gross on 138 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $188 per square foot. The Auburn market page carries the monthly figures.

13. McDonough, 8.3 percent gross

McDonough ranks thirteenth on yield but only seventeenth on entry price: the $2,145 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. Homes in McDonough closed at a median of $310,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,145, a gross yield of 8.3 percent. Houses there closed at about $141 per square foot. See the McDonough page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Hampton, 8.3 percent gross

The numbers: $297,750 median closed price across 164 closings, $2,060 median asking rent across 965 listings, 8.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $150 per square foot. Full detail is on the Hampton market page.

15. Columbus, 8.2 percent gross

Columbus is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: second on price, fifteenth on yield, because a $190,000 home there rents for only $1,300. The numbers: $190,000 median closed price across 1,174 closings, $1,300 median asking rent across 2,899 listings, 8.2 percent gross. See the Columbus page for the property mix and the price band.

16. Stockbridge, 8.1 percent gross

At $280,000 to buy and $1,900 a month to rent, Stockbridge yields 8.1 percent gross on 267 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $143 per square foot. See the Stockbridge page for the property mix and the price band.

17. Fairburn, 8.1 percent gross

Homes in Fairburn closed at a median of $340,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,295, a gross yield of 8.1 percent. Houses there closed at about $155 per square foot. The Fairburn market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Grovetown, 8.1 percent gross

Grovetown also carries a confirmed-close median: 86 confirmed lease closes in the last twelve months have a median of $1,950, 4 percent above the $1,875 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so this describes the samples rather than the same homes. Homes in Grovetown closed at a median of $279,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,875, a gross yield of 8.1 percent. The Grovetown market page carries the monthly figures.

19. Jasper, 8.0 percent gross

Only about 9 homes a month close in Jasper; the yield is attractive, the resale pool is not deep. At $327,995 to buy and $2,200 a month to rent, Jasper yields 8.0 percent gross on 112 tracked closings. The Jasper market page carries the monthly figures.

20. Perry, 8.0 percent gross

Perry is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fourteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $285,000 home there rents for only $1,900. The numbers: $285,000 median closed price across 231 closings, $1,900 median asking rent across 344 listings, 8.0 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $149 per square foot. See the Perry page for the property mix and the price band.

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 Georgia 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: 89 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 $355,000 across 77,633 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 Georgia rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Georgia 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 Georgia cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Georgia housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Georgia 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.