Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Tennessee (2026)

There is no honest way to rank Tennessee cities by rental return without rent data, and this page does not have it. What it does have is transaction evidence: the median price homes actually closed at inside each city's limits, and how many closings happened. That answers the two questions that come before any cash flow analysis, what it costs to get in and whether you can get back out.

What this page measures, and what it does not

Every city below cleared at least 100 closings in its reporting window, which filters out markets too thin to read. They are ranked cheapest first by median closed price, from $150,000 to $289,950. You will not find rent estimates, rent-to-price ratios, cap rates, cash-on-cash projections or gross yield rankings here. Resideline does not have verified rent data for these cities, so publishing those numbers would be invention rather than analysis. Entry price and transaction volume are what the data supports. Every figure describes closings inside the city limits, not the wider postal area that shares the city's name. The two can differ a lot: a postal area usually reaches into surrounding townships, which pulls the median toward whatever those townships are worth. Tennessee's statewide median closed price is $364,900 across 68,491 tracked closings.

The rankings

1. Memphis, $150,000, 3,625 closings

At $150,000 the entry price is about 41 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 3,625 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 604 a month. About 89 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Memphis market page.

2. La Follette, $175,000, 175 closings

At $175,000 the entry price is about 48 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 175 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 15 a month. About 97 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the La Follette market page.

3. Fayetteville, $195,000, 155 closings

At $195,000 the entry price is about 53 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 155 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 13 a month. About 96 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Fayetteville market page.

4. McMinnville, $228,000, 273 closings

At $228,000 the entry price is about 62 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 273 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 23 a month. About 95 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the McMinnville market page.

5. Elizabethton, $231,450, 216 closings

At $231,450 the entry price is about 63 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 216 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 18 a month. About 89 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Elizabethton market page.

6. Sparta, $241,000, 102 closings

At $241,000 the entry price is about 66 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 102 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 8 a month. That is a thin market: both your comparable set and your eventual exit depend on a small buyer pool. About 95 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. This is a low-volume market, so treat the median as directional. Full detail is on the Sparta market page.

7. Morristown, $265,000, 305 closings

At $265,000 the entry price is about 73 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 305 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 51 a month. About 88 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Morristown market page.

8. Greeneville, $275,000, 178 closings

At $275,000 the entry price is about 75 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 178 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 30 a month. About 84 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Greeneville market page.

9. Kingsport, $275,000, 612 closings

At $275,000 the entry price is about 75 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 612 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 102 a month. About 86 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Kingsport market page.

10. Jackson, $279,990, 499 closings

At $279,990 the entry price is about 77 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 499 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 83 a month. About 95 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Jackson market page.

11. Cordova, $288,500, 643 closings

At $288,500 the entry price is about 79 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 643 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 107 a month. About 91 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Cordova market page.

12. Tullahoma, $289,000, 292 closings

At $289,000 the entry price is about 79 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 292 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 49 a month. About 93 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Tullahoma market page.

13. Shelbyville, $289,900, 246 closings

At $289,900 the entry price is about 79 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 246 closings there over the last last six months, roughly 41 a month. About 84 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Shelbyville market page.

14. Soddy Daisy, $289,950, 208 closings

At $289,950 the entry price is about 79 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 208 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 17 a month. About 83 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Soddy Daisy market page.

15. Crossville, $289,950, 262 closings

At $289,950 the entry price is about 79 percent of the Tennessee median. Resideline tracked 262 closings there over the last last 12 months, roughly 22 a month. About 94 percent of those closings are houses, so the figure describes that segment rather than every property type. Full detail is on the Crossville market page.

How to use this list

Treat it as a shortlist, not an answer. A citywide median cannot price a specific address: property type, size, condition and location move a number far more than the city line does. Run any address on this list through Resideline for the comparable set behind its value.

Figures last updated August 23, 2026 from closings Resideline tracked.