Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Minnesota (2026)

Minnesota shows a 1.5-point spread in gross asking rental yield, from 6.6 percent in Cottage Grove to 8.1 percent in Richfield. Read the ratio as a screen and weigh it with purchase price, expenses and demand before ranking any of these markets against another. Bemidji is close behind at 8.1 percent. Maple Grove, the busiest market on the list with about 120 closings a month, sits ninth of 20 at 7.2 percent. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 52 Minnesota cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. A second table lists three 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. Richfield, 8.1 percent gross

Richfield ranks first on yield but only fifth on entry price: the $2,395 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. Homes in Richfield closed at a median of $355,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,395, a gross yield of 8.1 percent. Houses there closed at about $207 per square foot. The Richfield market page carries the monthly figures.

2. Bemidji, 8.1 percent gross

At $222,000 to buy and $1,498 a month to rent, Bemidji yields 8.1 percent gross on 207 tracked closings. See the Bemidji page for the property mix and the price band.

3. Brooklyn Park, 7.9 percent gross

The numbers: $350,000 median closed price across 498 closings, $2,300 median asking rent across 144 listings, 7.9 percent gross. Full detail is on the Brooklyn Park market page.

4. Blaine, 7.6 percent gross

Blaine ranks fourth on yield but only ninth on entry price: the $2,395 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $380,000 median closed price across 494 closings, $2,395 median asking rent across 178 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $192 per square foot. Full detail is on the Blaine market page.

5. Andover, 7.5 percent gross

Rent is what puts Andover fifth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. The numbers: $448,578 median closed price across 247 closings, $2,800 median asking rent across 68 listings, 7.5 percent gross. See the Andover page for the property mix and the price band.

6. Ramsey, 7.4 percent gross

Rent is what puts Ramsey sixth here; on price alone it would sit tenth of 20. The numbers: $383,000 median closed price across 263 closings, $2,350 median asking rent across 53 listings, 7.4 percent gross. The Ramsey market page carries the monthly figures.

7. Apple Valley, 7.3 percent gross

The numbers: $378,750 median closed price across 380 closings, $2,300 median asking rent across 165 listings, 7.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $185 per square foot. Full detail is on the Apple Valley market page.

8. Coon Rapids, 7.2 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Coon Rapids far: it is third cheapest on this list and eighth on yield, with rent of $1,994 against a $332,000 median price. Homes in Coon Rapids closed at a median of $332,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,994, a gross yield of 7.2 percent. Full detail is on the Coon Rapids market page.

9. Maple Grove, 7.2 percent gross

Maple Grove ranks ninth on yield but only seventeenth on entry price: the $2,599 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $435,345 median closed price across 722 closings, $2,599 median asking rent across 230 listings, 7.2 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $194 per square foot. Full detail is on the Maple Grove market page.

10. Savage, 7.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Savage tenth here; on price alone it would sit sixteenth of 20. Homes in Savage closed at a median of $422,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,495, a gross yield of 7.1 percent. Houses there closed at about $181 per square foot. See the Savage page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Farmington, 7.0 percent gross

Farmington is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: seventh on price, eleventh on yield, because a $376,000 home there rents for only $2,200. At $376,000 to buy and $2,200 a month to rent, Farmington yields 7.0 percent gross on 251 tracked closings. See the Farmington page for the property mix and the price band.

12. Shakopee, 6.9 percent gross

The numbers: $410,000 median closed price across 384 closings, $2,350 median asking rent across 233 listings, 6.9 percent gross. The Shakopee market page carries the monthly figures.

13. Inver Grove Heights, 6.9 percent gross

Read Inver Grove Heights's $2,290 rent as an apartment figure: 78 percent of its listings are apartments or condos. Homes in Inver Grove Heights closed at a median of $400,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,290, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. The Inver Grove Heights market page carries the monthly figures.

14. Rogers, 6.8 percent gross

Rogers ranks fourteenth on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $2,550 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $447,069 to buy and $2,550 a month to rent, Rogers yields 6.8 percent gross on 230 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Rogers market page.

15. Saint Michael, 6.8 percent gross

Saint Michael ranks fifteenth on yield but only twentieth on entry price: the $2,554 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $450,000 to buy and $2,554 a month to rent, Saint Michael yields 6.8 percent gross on 297 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $177 per square foot. See the Saint Michael page for the property mix and the price band.

16. Saint Louis Park, 6.7 percent gross

Saint Louis Park is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: eleventh on price, sixteenth on yield, because a $395,550 home there rents for only $2,205. At $395,550 to buy and $2,205 a month to rent, Saint Louis Park yields 6.7 percent gross on 454 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $229 per square foot. Full detail is on the Saint Louis Park market page.

17. Oakdale, 6.7 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Oakdale far: it is sixth cheapest on this list and seventeenth on yield, with rent of $2,000 against a $360,500 median price. At $360,500 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Oakdale yields 6.7 percent gross on 211 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $195 per square foot. The Oakdale market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Eagan, 6.7 percent gross

Eagan is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: thirteenth on price, eighteenth on yield, because a $405,500 home there rents for only $2,250. The numbers: $405,500 median closed price across 408 closings, $2,250 median asking rent across 288 listings, 6.7 percent gross. The Eagan market page carries the monthly figures.

19. Monticello, 6.6 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Monticello far: it is second cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $1,800 against a $324,900 median price. At $324,900 to buy and $1,800 a month to rent, Monticello yields 6.6 percent gross on 237 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Monticello market page.

20. Cottage Grove, 6.6 percent gross

Cottage Grove is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fifteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $415,000 home there rents for only $2,295. The numbers: $415,000 median closed price across 434 closings, $2,295 median asking rent across 132 listings, 6.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $193 per square foot. Full detail is on the Cottage Grove market page.

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 Minnesota 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: 52 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 $369,000 across 45,086 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 Minnesota rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Minnesota 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 Minnesota cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Minnesota housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Minnesota 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.