Best Places to Buy Rental Property in New York (2026)

Start with Elmira. It is the lowest entry price on this list, $110,000 at the median, and its $1,250 median asking rent turns that into 13.6 percent gross, the best return the state's measurable cities offer. Binghamton follows at 11.6 percent, on a $155,000 median price and $1,500 in asking rent. Volume and yield part ways: New York City closes about 4200 homes a month, more than any other city here, and ranks twelfth on yield at 7.7 percent. For one of these cities the page also shows a confirmed-close median; in New York City, 549 confirmed lease closes carry a median of $5,950 against a $5,500 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 $249,000 here against $549,000 statewide. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 41 New York cities meeting the coverage requirements; the yield range above describes the markets shown. Six 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. Elmira, 13.6 percent gross

Read Elmira's $1,250 rent as an apartment figure: 68 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $1,592. At $110,000 to buy and $1,250 a month to rent, Elmira yields 13.6 percent gross on 153 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $62 per square foot. Full detail is on the Elmira market page.

2. Binghamton, 11.6 percent gross

Binghamton's rental sample is 66 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $1,500 asking median understates what a house rents for there: houses asked $2,900. Homes in Binghamton closed at a median of $155,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,500, a gross yield of 11.6 percent. See the Binghamton page for the property mix and the price band.

3. Rochester, 10.7 percent gross

Homes in Rochester went under contract in a median of 10 days, so a buyer chasing its 10.7 percent yield needs financing ready before the search. The numbers: $180,000 median closed price across 1,029 closings, $1,600 median asking rent across 4,006 listings, 10.7 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $117 per square foot. Full detail is on the Rochester market page.

4. Syracuse, 10.6 percent gross

Syracuse's rental sample is 65 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $1,650 asking median understates what a house rents for there: houses asked $2,150. The numbers: $186,000 median closed price across 645 closings, $1,650 median asking rent across 2,261 listings, 10.6 percent gross. See the Syracuse page for the property mix and the price band.

5. Niagara Falls, 10.3 percent gross

Homes in Niagara Falls closed at a median of $140,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,200, a gross yield of 10.3 percent. Full detail is on the Niagara Falls market page.

6. Queens, 9.9 percent gross

Queens ranks sixth on yield but only fourteenth on entry price: the $2,675 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. Homes in Queens closed at a median of $325,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,675, a gross yield of 9.9 percent. Houses there closed at about $396 per square foot. See the Queens page for the property mix and the price band.

7. Middletown, 8.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Middletown seventh here; on price alone it would sit fifteenth of 20. At $347,475 to buy and $2,350 a month to rent, Middletown yields 8.1 percent gross on 257 tracked closings. The Middletown market page carries the monthly figures.

8. Buffalo, 8.1 percent gross

Read Buffalo's $1,450 rent as an apartment figure: 78 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $1,995. At $215,000 to buy and $1,450 a month to rent, Buffalo yields 8.1 percent gross on 1,149 tracked closings. The Buffalo market page carries the monthly figures.

9. Troy, 8.1 percent gross

Read Troy's $1,550 rent as an apartment figure: 83 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,000. Homes in Troy closed at a median of $230,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,550, a gross yield of 8.1 percent. Full detail is on the Troy market page.

10. Newburgh, 8.0 percent gross

Read Newburgh's $2,000 rent as an apartment figure: 67 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,500. At $300,000 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Newburgh yields 8.0 percent gross on 187 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $189 per square foot. See the Newburgh page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Schenectady, 7.7 percent gross

Read Schenectady's $1,600 rent as an apartment figure: 76 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,122. The numbers: $248,000 median closed price across 355 closings, $1,600 median asking rent across 788 listings, 7.7 percent gross. The Schenectady market page carries the monthly figures.

12. New York City, 7.7 percent gross

New York City is one of the cities with a confirmed-close sample: 549 closes with a median of $5,950 beside a $5,500 asking median, a 8 percent difference between two separate samples, not a measured gap on the same listings. Homes in New York City closed at a median of $860,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $5,500, a gross yield of 7.7 percent. Full detail is on the New York City market page.

13. Tonawanda, 7.5 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Tonawanda far: it is eighth cheapest on this list and thirteenth on yield, with rent of $1,400 against a $225,000 median price. Homes in Tonawanda closed at a median of $225,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,400, a gross yield of 7.5 percent. Houses there closed at about $170 per square foot. See the Tonawanda page for the property mix and the price band.

14. Forest Hills, 7.3 percent gross

Forest Hills ranks fourteenth on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $3,250 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $535,000 median closed price across 344 closings, $3,250 median asking rent across 467 listings, 7.3 percent gross. Full detail is on the Forest Hills market page.

15. Levittown, 7.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Levittown fifteenth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. At $746,250 to buy and $4,425 a month to rent, Levittown yields 7.1 percent gross on 222 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $461 per square foot. Full detail is on the Levittown market page.

16. Lancaster, 7.1 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Lancaster far: it is twelfth cheapest on this list and sixteenth on yield, with rent of $1,700 against a $289,250 median price. The numbers: $289,250 median closed price across 106 closings, $1,700 median asking rent across 66 listings, 7.1 percent gross. The Lancaster market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Lockport, 7.0 percent gross

Lockport is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fifth on price, seventeenth on yield, because a $180,400 home there rents for only $1,050. The numbers: $180,400 median closed price across 311 closings, $1,050 median asking rent across 197 listings, 7.0 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $113 per square foot. The Lockport market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Poughkeepsie, 6.9 percent gross

Read Poughkeepsie's $2,100 rent as an apartment figure: 74 percent of its listings are apartments or condos, and the house median is $2,800. The numbers: $364,500 median closed price across 300 closings, $2,100 median asking rent across 1,045 listings, 6.9 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $211 per square foot. See the Poughkeepsie page for the property mix and the price band.

19. Ithaca, 6.7 percent gross

Ithaca's rental sample is 77 percent apartments and condos while its sales are mostly houses, so the $2,175 asking median understates what a house rents for there: houses asked $2,572. The numbers: $389,000 median closed price across 141 closings, $2,175 median asking rent across 1,301 listings, 6.7 percent gross. See the Ithaca page for the property mix and the price band.

20. Cheektowaga, 6.7 percent gross

Cheektowaga is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: eleventh on price, twentieth on yield, because a $250,000 home there rents for only $1,397. At $250,000 to buy and $1,397 a month to rent, Cheektowaga yields 6.7 percent gross on 343 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $191 per square foot. Full detail is on the Cheektowaga 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 New York 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: 41 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 $549,000 across 78,957 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 New York rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in New York 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 New York cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The New York housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest New York 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.