Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Minnesota (2026)

Bemidji is both the cheapest city on this list and the one where rent goes furthest against price: a $224,500 median closed price carries a $1,500 median asking rent, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. Richfield is close behind at 8.0 percent. Maple Grove, the busiest market on the list with about 117 closings a month, sits seventh of 20 at 7.2 percent. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 51 Minnesota cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. A second table lists four 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. Bemidji, 8.0 percent gross

At $224,500 to buy and $1,500 a month to rent, Bemidji yields 8.0 percent gross on 208 tracked closings. See the Bemidji page for the property mix and the price band.

2. Richfield, 8.0 percent gross

Homes in Richfield closed at a median of $352,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,350, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $208 per square foot. The Richfield market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Brooklyn Park, 7.9 percent gross

The numbers: $349,900 median closed price across 511 closings, $2,295 median asking rent across 128 listings, 7.9 percent gross. Full detail is on the Brooklyn Park market page.

4. Blaine, 7.6 percent gross

The numbers: $376,000 median closed price across 499 closings, $2,395 median asking rent across 164 listings, 7.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $193 per square foot. Full detail is on the Blaine market page.

5. Andover, 7.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Andover fifth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. The numbers: $440,000 median closed price across 249 closings, $2,800 median asking rent across 65 listings, 7.6 percent gross. See the Andover page for the property mix and the price band.

6. Apple Valley, 7.3 percent gross

The numbers: $378,250 median closed price across 376 closings, $2,298 median asking rent across 146 listings, 7.3 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $185 per square foot. Full detail is on the Apple Valley market page.

7. Maple Grove, 7.2 percent gross

Maple Grove ranks seventh on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $2,599 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $431,200 median closed price across 701 closings, $2,599 median asking rent across 212 listings, 7.2 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $194 per square foot. Full detail is on the Maple Grove 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 $1,975 against a $330,000 median price. Homes in Coon Rapids closed at a median of $330,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,975, a gross yield of 7.2 percent. Full detail is on the Coon Rapids market page.

9. Savage, 7.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Savage ninth here; on price alone it would sit sixteenth of 20. Homes in Savage closed at a median of $421,750 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 $180 per square foot. See the Savage page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Monticello, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Monticello far: it is second cheapest on this list and tenth on yield, with rent of $1,900 against a $324,900 median price. At $324,900 to buy and $1,900 a month to rent, Monticello yields 7.0 percent gross on 241 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Monticello market page.

11. Farmington, 6.9 percent gross

At $380,000 to buy and $2,200 a month to rent, Farmington yields 6.9 percent gross on 252 tracked closings. See the Farmington page for the property mix and the price band.

12. Inver Grove Heights, 6.9 percent gross

Read Inver Grove Heights's $2,292 rent as an apartment figure: 78 percent of its listings are apartments or condos. Homes in Inver Grove Heights closed at a median of $399,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,292, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. The Inver Grove Heights market page carries the monthly figures.

13. Shakopee, 6.9 percent gross

The numbers: $410,000 median closed price across 372 closings, $2,350 median asking rent across 217 listings, 6.9 percent gross. The Shakopee market page carries the monthly figures.

14. Eagan, 6.8 percent gross

The numbers: $395,500 median closed price across 419 closings, $2,250 median asking rent across 289 listings, 6.8 percent gross. The Eagan market page carries the monthly figures.

15. Cottage Grove, 6.8 percent gross

The numbers: $410,000 median closed price across 424 closings, $2,325 median asking rent across 124 listings, 6.8 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $192 per square foot. Full detail is on the Cottage Grove market page.

16. Stillwater, 6.8 percent gross

Homes in Stillwater closed at a median of $425,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,400, a gross yield of 6.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $217 per square foot. Full detail is on the Stillwater market page.

17. Saint Louis Park, 6.8 percent gross

Saint Louis Park is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: tenth on price, seventeenth on yield, because a $390,000 home there rents for only $2,195. At $390,000 to buy and $2,195 a month to rent, Saint Louis Park yields 6.8 percent gross on 457 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $228 per square foot. Full detail is on the Saint Louis Park market page.

18. Shoreview, 6.8 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Shoreview far: it is thirteenth cheapest on this list and eighteenth on yield, with rent of $2,250 against a $400,000 median price. The numbers: $400,000 median closed price across 226 closings, $2,250 median asking rent across 63 listings, 6.8 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $207 per square foot. The Shoreview market page carries the monthly figures.

19. Oakdale, 6.7 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Oakdale far: it is sixth cheapest on this list and nineteenth on yield, with rent of $2,000 against a $359,900 median price. At $359,900 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Oakdale yields 6.7 percent gross on 187 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $193 per square foot. The Oakdale market page carries the monthly figures.

20. Rogers, 6.7 percent gross

Only 94 rental listings sit behind Rogers's $2,500 median; the yield is real but less settled than in cities with hundreds. At $450,000 to buy and $2,500 a month to rent, Rogers yields 6.7 percent gross on 220 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Rogers 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 September 10, 2025: 51 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 $369,900 across 45,702 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 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.