Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Virginia (2026)

Price and rent point the same way in Virginia: Martinsville, the cheapest city with enough data, also returns the most, 11.3 percent gross on a $105,000 median price and $993 in asking rent. Danville is close behind at 9.9 percent. One caution on the rent side: in Norfolk houses asked a median of $2,295 while the all-type median was $1,880. For a house, compare house rents with house sale prices; substituting the house rent into a ratio whose denominator is a mixed sale median only makes the number look better, not more representative. Chesapeake, the busiest market on the list with about 298 closings a month, sits seventeenth of 20 at 6.9 percent. Two cities on this list carry a confirmed-close median as well as an asking median. Woodbridge has the largest close sample, 492, with a median of $2,700, 4 percent below the $2,800 asking median; the samples are separate, so this is not evidence that the same homes leased above or below their advertised rent. Measured against the whole state, these are cheap markets: a median of $344,620 here against $440,000 statewide. The table shows the 20 highest-yielding markets among 60 Virginia 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. Martinsville, 11.3 percent gross

At $105,000 to buy and $993 a month to rent, Martinsville yields 11.3 percent gross on 234 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $75 per square foot. The Martinsville market page carries the monthly figures.

2. Danville, 9.9 percent gross

The numbers: $145,000 median closed price across 288 closings, $1,200 median asking rent across 332 listings, 9.9 percent gross. Houses there closed at about $94 per square foot. Full detail is on the Danville market page.

3. Bristol, 9.1 percent gross

At $185,000 to buy and $1,398 a month to rent, Bristol yields 9.1 percent gross on 181 tracked closings. See the Bristol page for the property mix and the price band.

4. Petersburg, 8.4 percent gross

Homes in Petersburg closed at a median of $199,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,395, a gross yield of 8.4 percent. Full detail is on the Petersburg market page.

5. Portsmouth, 7.7 percent gross

The numbers: $265,000 median closed price across 817 closings, $1,700 median asking rent across 966 listings, 7.7 percent gross. See the Portsmouth page for the property mix and the price band.

6. Hampton, 7.7 percent gross

Homes in Hampton closed at a median of $279,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,786, a gross yield of 7.7 percent. Full detail is on the Hampton market page.

7. Glen Allen, 7.6 percent gross

Rent is what puts Glen Allen seventh here; on price alone it would sit fourteenth of 20. Homes in Glen Allen closed at a median of $400,500 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,550, a gross yield of 7.6 percent. Houses there closed at about $220 per square foot. The Glen Allen market page carries the monthly figures.

8. Locust Grove, 7.5 percent gross

Locust Grove ranks eighth on yield but only thirteenth on entry price: the $2,500 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. The numbers: $400,000 median closed price across 263 closings, $2,500 median asking rent across 124 listings, 7.5 percent gross. Full detail is on the Locust Grove market page.

9. Suffolk, 7.4 percent gross

At $380,000 to buy and $2,350 a month to rent, Suffolk yields 7.4 percent gross on 769 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $203 per square foot. See the Suffolk page for the property mix and the price band.

10. Newport News, 7.3 percent gross

Homes in Newport News closed at a median of $290,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,775, a gross yield of 7.3 percent. See the Newport News page for the property mix and the price band.

11. Woodbridge, 7.3 percent gross

Woodbridge is one of the cities with a confirmed-close sample: 492 closes with a median of $2,700 beside a $2,800 asking median, a 4 percent difference between two separate samples, not a measured gap on the same listings. The numbers: $460,000 median closed price across 196 closings, $2,800 median asking rent across 1,874 listings, 7.3 percent gross. See the Woodbridge page for the property mix and the price band.

12. Chesterfield, 7.2 percent gross

Chesterfield ranks twelfth on yield but only eighteenth on entry price: the $2,550 median asking rent is doing the work, not a cheap purchase. At $426,665 to buy and $2,550 a month to rent, Chesterfield yields 7.2 percent gross on 891 tracked closings. See the Chesterfield page for the property mix and the price band.

13. North Chesterfield, 7.0 percent gross

North Chesterfield moves fast, 6 days from listing to contract at the median, which matters more than its 7.0 percent yield if you cannot close quickly. The numbers: $366,240 median closed price across 908 closings, $2,150 median asking rent across 492 listings, 7.0 percent gross. Full detail is on the North Chesterfield market page.

14. Norfolk, 7.0 percent gross

Norfolk is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: tenth on price, fourteenth on yield, because a $323,000 home there rents for only $1,880. Homes in Norfolk closed at a median of $323,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $1,880, a gross yield of 7.0 percent. See the Norfolk page for the property mix and the price band.

15. Salem, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Salem far: it is seventh cheapest on this list and fifteenth on yield, with rent of $1,600 against a $274,950 median price. At $274,950 to buy and $1,600 a month to rent, Salem yields 7.0 percent gross on 190 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $167 per square foot. Full detail is on the Salem market page.

16. Roanoke, 7.0 percent gross

A low entry price does not carry Roanoke far: it is fifth cheapest on this list and sixteenth on yield, with rent of $1,350 against a $232,000 median price. At $232,000 to buy and $1,350 a month to rent, Roanoke yields 7.0 percent gross on 831 tracked closings. Houses there closed at about $153 per square foot. The Roanoke market page carries the monthly figures.

17. Chesapeake, 6.9 percent gross

Homes in Chesapeake closed at a median of $415,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,400, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. Houses there closed at about $219 per square foot. The Chesapeake market page carries the monthly figures.

18. Mechanicsville, 6.9 percent gross

Homes in Mechanicsville went under contract in a median of 6 days, so a buyer chasing its 6.9 percent yield needs financing ready before the search. Homes in Mechanicsville closed at a median of $415,000 over the last six months and the median asking rent in the last twelve months was $2,395, a gross yield of 6.9 percent. The Mechanicsville market page carries the monthly figures.

19. Spotsylvania, 6.7 percent gross

Spotsylvania also carries a confirmed-close median: 37 confirmed lease closes in the last twelve months have a median of $2,600, 4 percent below the $2,695 asking median. The two samples are not paired, so this describes the samples rather than the same homes. At $479,200 to buy and $2,695 a month to rent, Spotsylvania yields 6.7 percent gross on 333 tracked closings. See the Spotsylvania page for the property mix and the price band.

20. Williamsburg, 6.7 percent gross

Williamsburg is cheaper than its yield rank suggests: fifteenth on price, twentieth on yield, because a $414,500 home there rents for only $2,300. At $414,500 to buy and $2,300 a month to rent, Williamsburg yields 6.7 percent gross on 158 tracked closings. The Williamsburg market page carries the monthly figures.

How this ranking is built

• •Cities: every Virginia 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: 60 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 $440,000 across 64,073 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 Virginia rankings: Cheapest cities to buy a house in Virginia 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 Virginia cities Resideline tracks by gross rental yield. The Virginia housing market hub carries the statewide figures and the largest Virginia 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.