Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Louisiana (2026)

Slidell leads Louisiana on gross yield at 11.1 percent, not because it is the cheapest city here (that is New Iberia at $169,000) but because its $1,750 median asking rent is high for a $189,500 home. Marrero is close behind at 10.4 percent. Baton Rouge, the busiest market on the list with about 168 closings a month, sits nineteenth of 20 at 6.8 percent. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 28 Louisiana cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown.

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. Slidell, 11.1 percent gross

Homes in Slidell closed at a median of $189,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,750, a gross yield of 11.1 percent. Houses there closed at about $117 per square foot. Full detail is on the Slidell market page.

2. Marrero, 10.4 percent gross

The numbers: $189,999 median closed price across 193 closings, $1,650 median asking rent across 267 listings, 10.4 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $133 per square foot. The Marrero market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Haughton, 9.2 percent gross

Rent is what puts Haughton third here; on price alone it would sit thirteenth of 20. The numbers: $253,680 median closed price across 126 closings, $1,950 median asking rent across 118 listings, 9.2 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $161 per square foot. See the Haughton page for the property mix and the price band.

4. Denham Springs, 9.1 percent gross

Denham Springs ranks fourth on yield but only ninth on entry price: the $1,750 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $229,900 to buy and $1,750 a month to rent, Denham Springs yields 9.1 percent gross on 136 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $145 per square foot. The Denham Springs market page carries the monthly figures.

5. Zachary, 8.6 percent gross

Zachary ranks fifth on yield but only sixteenth on entry price: the $2,000 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $279,900 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Zachary yields 8.6 percent gross on 171 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Zachary market page.

6. Sulphur, 7.8 percent gross

Homes in Sulphur closed at a median of $200,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,300, a gross yield of 7.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $116 per square foot. The Sulphur market page carries the monthly figures.

7. Gonzales, 7.8 percent gross

Rent is what puts Gonzales seventh here; on price alone it would sit fifteenth of 20. Homes in Gonzales closed at a median of $277,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,800, a gross yield of 7.8 percent. See the Gonzales page for the property mix and the price band.

8. Houma, 7.8 percent gross

Houma is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: second on price, eighth on yield, because a $185,000 home there rents for only $1,200. At $185,000 to buy and $1,200 a month to rent, Houma yields 7.8 percent gross on 302 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $116 per square foot. See the Houma page for the property mix and the price band.

9. Bossier City, 7.7 percent gross

At $234,056 to buy and $1,500 a month to rent, Bossier City yields 7.7 percent gross on 422 tracked closings. See the Bossier City page for the property mix and the price band.

10. West Monroe, 7.7 percent gross

Only about 11 homes a month close in West Monroe; the yield is attractive, the resale pool is not deep. Homes in West Monroe closed at a median of $203,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,300, a gross yield of 7.7 percent. The West Monroe market page carries the monthly figures.

11. Alexandria, 7.6 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Alexandria far: it is third cheapest on this list and eleventh on yield, with rent of $1,200 against a $188,750 median price. The numbers: $188,750 median closed price across 306 closings, $1,200 median asking rent across 204 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Full detail is on the Alexandria market page.

12. Thibodaux, 7.6 percent gross

Thibodaux is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: sixth on price, twelfth on yield, because a $190,000 home there rents for only $1,200. The numbers: $190,000 median closed price across 128 closings, $1,200 median asking rent across 168 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $134 per square foot. See the Thibodaux page for the property mix and the price band.

13. Broussard, 7.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Broussard thirteenth here; on price alone it would sit seventeenth of 20. The numbers: $290,000 median closed price across 303 closings, $1,825 median asking rent across 118 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $158 per square foot. Full detail is on the Broussard market page.

14. Youngsville, 7.2 percent gross

Rent is what puts Youngsville fourteenth here; on price alone it would sit eighteenth of 20. At $315,500 to buy and $1,895 a month to rent, Youngsville yields 7.2 percent gross on 302 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $162 per square foot. See the Youngsville page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Lafayette, 7.2 percent gross

At $250,000 to buy and $1,500 a month to rent, Lafayette yields 7.2 percent gross on 839 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $143 per square foot. The Lafayette market page carries the monthly figures.

16. New Iberia, 7.1 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry New Iberia far: it is first cheapest on this list and sixteenth on yield, with rent of $1,000 against a $169,000 median price. The numbers: $169,000 median closed price across 200 closings, $1,000 median asking rent across 132 listings, 7.1 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $109 per square foot. See the New Iberia page for the property mix and the price band.

17. Prairieville, 7.1 percent gross

Homes in Prairieville closed at a median of $354,900 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,100, a gross yield of 7.1 percent. The Prairieville market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Covington, 6.9 percent gross

The numbers: $320,000 median closed price across 163 closings, $1,838 median asking rent across 350 listings, 6.9 percent gross. Full detail is on the Covington market page.

19. Baton Rouge, 6.8 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Baton Rouge far: it is eleventh cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $1,360 against a $239,900 median price. The numbers: $239,900 median closed price across 1,009 closings, $1,360 median asking rent across 4,359 listings, 6.8 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $139 per square foot. The Baton Rouge market page carries the monthly figures.

20. Kenner, 6.8 percent gross

Kenner is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fourteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $275,000 home there rents for only $1,550. Homes in Kenner closed at a median of $275,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,550, a gross yield of 6.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $155 per square foot. The Kenner market page carries the monthly figures.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Louisiana 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: 28 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 $261,911 across 21,380 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 Louisiana rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Louisiana 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 Louisiana cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Louisiana housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Louisiana 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.