Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Texas (2026)

Gross asking rental yields range from 7.9 percent in Venus to 9.5 percent in Spring across the 20 Texas markets shown, a spread of 1.6 points. Compare purchase prices alongside property expenses and rental demand rather than treating the highest ratio as a recommendation. Abilene is close behind at 9.1 percent. Measured against the whole state, these are cheap markets: a median of $287,300 here against $345,000 statewide. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 147 Texas 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. Spring, 9.5 percent gross

Homes in Spring closed at a median of $252,495 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,995, a gross yield of 9.5 percent. Houses there closed at about $134 per square foot. The Spring market page carries the monthly figures.

2. Abilene, 9.1 percent gross

Abilene ranks second on yield but only eighth on entry price: the $2,100 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $277,995 median closed price across 1,086 closings, $2,100 median asking rent across 2,021 listings, 9.1 percent gross. The Abilene market page carries the monthly figures.

3. Baytown, 8.9 percent gross

Homes in Baytown closed at a median of $262,600 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,956, a gross yield of 8.9 percent. Full detail is on the Baytown market page.

4. Lancaster, 8.9 percent gross

Rent is what puts Lancaster fourth here; on price alone it would sit ninth of 20. The numbers: $280,000 median closed price across 300 closings, $2,075 median asking rent across 762 listings, 8.9 percent gross. The Lancaster market page carries the monthly figures.

5. Aubrey, 8.9 percent gross

Rent is what puts Aubrey fifth here; on price alone it would sit fourteenth of 20. The numbers: $309,950 median closed price across 158 closings, $2,295 median asking rent across 1,715 listings, 8.9 percent gross. Full detail is on the Aubrey market page.

6. Mesquite, 8.8 percent gross

Rent is what puts Mesquite sixth here; on price alone it would sit tenth of 20. Homes in Mesquite closed at a median of $284,900 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,100, a gross yield of 8.8 percent. Houses there closed at about $162 per square foot. The Mesquite market page carries the monthly figures.

7. Seagoville, 8.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Seagoville seventh here; on price alone it would sit fifteenth of 20. The numbers: $313,320 median closed price across 239 closings, $2,239 median asking rent across 164 listings, 8.6 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $153 per square foot. The Seagoville market page carries the monthly figures.

8. Converse, 8.3 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Converse far: it is second cheapest on this list and eighth on yield, with rent of $1,730 against a $249,999 median price. Homes in Converse closed at a median of $249,999 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,730, a gross yield of 8.3 percent. Houses there closed at about $135 per square foot. Full detail is on the Converse market page.

9. Watauga, 8.3 percent gross

The numbers: $289,700 median closed price across 168 closings, $2,000 median asking rent across 374 listings, 8.3 percent gross. The Watauga market page carries the monthly figures.

10. Brownsville, 8.2 percent gross

Brownsville is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: second on price, tenth on yield, because a $249,999 home there rents for only $1,700. At $249,999 to buy and $1,700 a month to rent, Brownsville yields 8.2 percent gross on 450 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $163 per square foot. Full detail is on the Brownsville market page.

11. Denison, 8.1 percent gross

Denison is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: first on price, eleventh on yield, because a $219,000 home there rents for only $1,485. At $219,000 to buy and $1,485 a month to rent, Denison yields 8.1 percent gross on 197 tracked closings. The Denison market page carries the monthly figures.

12. Lavon, 8.1 percent gross

Rent is what puts Lavon twelfth here; on price alone it would sit nineteenth of 20. At $339,990 to buy and $2,299 a month to rent, Lavon yields 8.1 percent gross on 153 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $161 per square foot. See the Lavon page for the property mix and the price band.

13. Crandall, 8.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Crandall far: it is seventh cheapest on this list and thirteenth on yield, with rent of $1,825 against a $273,515 median price. At $273,515 to buy and $1,825 a month to rent, Crandall yields 8.0 percent gross on 160 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $151 per square foot. The Crandall market page carries the monthly figures.

14. Garland, 8.0 percent gross

At $299,994 to buy and $2,000 a month to rent, Garland yields 8.0 percent gross on 988 tracked closings. See the Garland page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Ennis, 8.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Ennis far: it is sixth cheapest on this list and fifteenth on yield, with rent of $1,795 against a $269,249 median price. Homes in Ennis closed at a median of $269,249 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,795, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. See the Ennis page for the property mix and the price band.

16. Royse City, 8.0 percent gross

Homes in Royse City closed at a median of $330,135 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,195, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $156 per square foot. The Royse City market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Crowley, 8.0 percent gross

The numbers: $319,900 median closed price across 253 closings, $2,125 median asking rent across 972 listings, 8.0 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $166 per square foot. The Crowley market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Godley, 8.0 percent gross

Only 86 rental listings sit behind Godley's $2,385 median; the yield is real but less settled than in cities with hundreds. Homes in Godley closed at a median of $360,000 over the last twelve months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,385, a gross yield of 8.0 percent. Houses there closed at about $170 per square foot. Full detail is on the Godley market page.

19. Kyle, 7.9 percent gross

Kyle is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: thirteenth on price, nineteenth on yield, because a $300,500 home there rents for only $1,975. The numbers: $300,500 median closed price across 176 closings, $1,975 median asking rent across 1,989 listings, 7.9 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $166 per square foot. See the Kyle page for the property mix and the price band.

20. Venus, 7.9 percent gross

Venus is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: sixteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $319,900 home there rents for only $2,100. At $319,900 to buy and $2,100 a month to rent, Venus yields 7.9 percent gross on 170 tracked closings. Full detail is on the Venus market page.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Texas 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: 147 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 $345,000 across 124,402 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 Texas rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Texas 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 Texas cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Texas housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Texas 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.