Best Places to Invest in Multifamily Real Estate (2026): 11 Metros Compared

There is no single best city for multifamily. The right market depends on what you want from it. Here is which of the 11 metros led on each measure, on Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data through September 2026.

• Fastest job growth: Raleigh (+2.3% in the year to September 2026), then Provo-Orem (+1.8%) and Las Vegas (+1.7%).
• Most jobs added: Dallas-Fort Worth (about 43,900), then Houston (about 33,600). Big metros add the most jobs in raw numbers, even when their growth rates look ordinary.
• Fastest population growth: Raleigh (+2.36% in 2025), then Boise (+2.23%) and Austin (+2.10%).
• Lowest unemployment: Raleigh (2.7%), then Boise (3.1%) and Provo-Orem (3.3%).
• Rent easiest on renters' budgets: Louisville (rent takes 28.1% of the median renter's income), then Oklahoma City (28.4%) and Austin (28.6%).
• Lowest rents: Oklahoma City ($1,226 median gross rent), then Louisville ($1,229) and Cincinnati ($1,279).
• Least new apartment supply: Fayetteville (0.1 units permitted per 1,000 residents), then Oklahoma City (0.2). The most: Raleigh (3.3) and Austin (2.3).

The rent figures come from a survey, so gaps of a few dollars or a fraction of a point, such as Oklahoma City and Louisville on rent, are within its margin of error.

Any overall score depends on which measures you pick and how much each one counts. We tried the simple version: the five measures in our tables, weighted equally, with new construction counted as competition. Raleigh, Boise and Provo-Orem came out on top. Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, the two metros we buy in, landed in the bottom half, mostly because their unemployment rates are higher and rent takes a bigger share of renters' income there. Rank on jobs added alone and those two lead.

Neither score tells you what a property will earn. That comes down to the price paid, the loan and how the building is run. So we show every measure side by side and let you weigh them for your own goals.

Austin grew faster than all but two of these metros in 2025 (+2.10%), and it is still building: only Raleigh permitted more apartments per resident. Rent is high in dollars, $1,741, second only to Dallas-Fort Worth, but it takes a smaller share of renters' income than in most of the group. Technology, state government and the University of Texas at Austin anchor the economy.

• Jobs: 1.42 million, +1.1% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 3.7% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 2,620,945, +2.10% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,741 in 2025, 28.6% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 6,102 units permitted in January to September 2026, 2.3 per 1,000 residents

The Boise metro takes in Meridian, Nampa and Eagle. It grew 2.23% in 2025, second only to Raleigh, and its 3.1% unemployment rate was the second lowest of the 11. It is also one of the smaller markets here, with about 864,000 people and 419,000 jobs.

• Jobs: 418,600, +1.1% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 3.1% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 864,243, +2.23% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,702 in 2025, 29.2% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 1,039 units permitted in January to September 2026, 1.2 per 1,000 residents

Cincinnati is one of the slower growers in this group, with population up 0.57% and jobs up 0.4%. It is also one of the cheaper ones: its $1,279 median gross rent is the third lowest of the 11. The metro crosses three states, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, and is home to the University of Cincinnati.

• Jobs: 1.18 million, +0.4% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 3.6% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 2,312,858, +0.57% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,279 in 2025, 29.6% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 3,244 units permitted in January to September 2026, 1.4 per 1,000 residents

Dallas-Fort Worth is the biggest metro in this comparison, with 8.48 million people, and it added more jobs than any of the others, about 43,900 in a year. It is also permitting the most apartments in raw numbers, 16,551 units in nine months, and has the highest median gross rent of the 11, $1,744, just ahead of Austin. Our Dallas-Fort Worth market page puts these numbers beside the latest broker reports.

• Jobs: 4.35 million, +1.0% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 4.1% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 8,477,157, +1.48% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,744 in 2025, 31.3% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 16,551 units permitted in January to September 2026, 2.0 per 1,000 residents

Fayetteville's economy centers on Fort Bragg, one of the largest U.S. Army installations. (It was Fort Liberty from 2023 until the Army restored the Fort Bragg name on February 14, 2025.) It lost jobs over the year, down 0.7%, the biggest drop of the 11, and just 55 apartment units were permitted in nine months, the fewest here. Rent takes 32.5% of the median renter's income, the second-highest share.

• Jobs: 133,700, -0.7% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 4.0% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 395,412, +0.64% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,391 in 2025, 32.5% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 55 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.1 per 1,000 residents

Houston has 7.90 million people and drew more international migrants than any other metro here, 71,903 in a year. It added about 33,600 jobs, second only to Dallas-Fort Worth. New apartment permits are low for its size, 0.9 per 1,000 residents, less than half the Dallas-Fort Worth rate. Our Houston market page puts these numbers beside the latest broker reports.

• Jobs: 3.49 million, +1.0% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 4.6% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 7,904,627, +1.63% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,550 in 2025, 31.5% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 7,108 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.9 per 1,000 residents

Las Vegas had the third-fastest job growth here (+1.7%) and also the highest unemployment rate (4.8%). Rent takes 32.8% of the median renter's income, the highest share of the 11. New apartment permits are modest, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.

• Jobs: 1.19 million, +1.7% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 4.8% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 2,407,226, +0.90% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,711 in 2025, 32.8% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 1,427 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.6 per 1,000 residents

Louisville is the easiest market on renters' budgets in this group: rent takes 28.1% of the median renter's income, and its $1,229 median gross rent is a few dollars above Oklahoma City's. Growth is slow. Jobs were essentially flat, about 200 fewer than a year earlier, and population grew 0.53%, the slowest of the 11. Health care and logistics are large employers.

• Jobs: 711,800, 0.0% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 4.4% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 1,402,509, +0.53% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,229 in 2025, 28.1% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 1,088 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.8 per 1,000 residents

Oklahoma City has the lowest median gross rent of the 11, $1,226, and very little new building: 338 apartment units permitted in nine months, 0.2 per 1,000 residents. Jobs rose 0.5% over the year. Energy, aerospace and health care are major parts of the economy.

• Jobs: 713,900, +0.5% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 3.7% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 1,512,813, +0.92% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,226 in 2025, 28.4% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 338 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.2 per 1,000 residents

Provo-Orem (the Census now calls it Provo-Orem-Lehi) is home to Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University, at the south end of Utah's Silicon Slopes tech corridor. Jobs grew 1.8%, second only to Raleigh, and population grew 1.90%.

• Jobs: 327,200, +1.8% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 3.3% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 773,426, +1.90% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,685 in 2025, 29.7% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 709 units permitted in January to September 2026, 0.9 per 1,000 residents

Raleigh came first on four of the measures here: job growth (+2.3%), population growth (+2.36%), the lowest unemployment rate (2.7%) and the most apartment permits per resident (3.3 per 1,000). That last one cuts both ways: more renters are arriving, and more new buildings are competing for them. Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle with Durham and Chapel Hill.

• Jobs: 783,200, +2.3% in the year to September 2026 (BLS)
• Unemployment: 2.7% in September 2026 (BLS)
• Population: 1,595,720, +2.36% in 2025
• Median gross rent: $1,713 in 2025, 29.0% of the median renter's income
• New apartments: 5,221 units permitted in January to September 2026, 3.3 per 1,000 residents

An apartment building's cash flow comes from four things: the rent it collects, what it costs to run, the price paid and the loan. Metro data tells you about the first, and only part of it:

• Rent level (median gross rent, ACS table B25064) shows what renters in the metro pay today, across every kind of rental home, not only apartments.
• Rent as a share of income (ACS table B25071) shows how stretched renters are. A lower share means rent takes less of a typical renter's budget.
• New supply (apartment permits per 1,000 residents) shows how many new units may soon compete for the same renters.

None of these tells you what a specific building will earn. For how to read a deal's own numbers, see cap rate vs. cash-on-cash vs. IRR.

• The measures above: jobs, population, rent, rent as a share of income and new supply.
• Distance and travel: how often you, or your team, can visit the property.
• A local team: property managers, brokers, lenders and contractors who know the submarket.
• Landlord-tenant law and eviction timelines, which differ by state and sometimes by city.
• Property taxes and insurance, which can move a building's expenses more than rent growth moves its income.

For the steps of a first purchase, see how to buy your first apartment complex and how to buy apartment buildings with no experience. If you would rather invest without running a property yourself, see how passive real estate investing works.

The 11 metros sit in eight states: Texas (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston), North Carolina (Fayetteville, Raleigh), Idaho (Boise), Kentucky (Louisville), Nevada (Las Vegas), Ohio (Cincinnati), Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) and Utah (Provo-Orem). The Cincinnati metro also reaches into Kentucky and Indiana, and the Louisville metro into Indiana. Texas added 391,243 residents in 2025, more than any other state (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). State income tax, property tax and landlord-tenant law all differ by state; how your own state taxes income from another state is a question for your CPA.

EagleCap Legacy Wealth Partners is a multifamily real estate investment firm founded in the Tri-Cities, Washington, in 2018 by Justin Pratt and his son, Jarom Pratt. It buys and improves value-add apartment communities in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metros for accredited investors across the United States. Its team works from Utah and Texas.

Of the 11 metros here, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston added the most jobs in number in the year to September 2026, about 77,500 between them, and Texas added more residents in 2025 than any other state. That depth of renter demand is why we focus there. It is a business decision, not a claim that they rank first on every measure, and this comparison includes markets we do not buy in. Including a market here is not a recommendation.

For each of our two markets in more depth, see Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.

• Metros: the 10 from the first version of this article (October 2024), plus Dallas-Fort Worth. Each is the Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical area, not the city alone.
• Jobs and unemployment: BLS nonfarm payroll jobs and unemployment rate for each metro, September 2026 against September 2025. The figures are not seasonally adjusted, so we compare the same month a year apart. September 2026 figures are preliminary and BLS may revise them.
• Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates, July 1, 2025, and the change from July 1, 2024.
• Rent: American Community Survey 2025 1-year estimates, released October 29, 2026: median gross rent (rent plus utilities, table B25064) and median gross rent as a percentage of household income (table B25071). These are survey estimates with margins of error, and they cover every kind of rental home. We no longer show a yearly rent growth figure: the change from one survey year to the next is small next to its margin of error in several of these metros.
• New supply: Census Building Permits Survey, housing units in buildings with 5 or more units, year to date through September 2026, divided by the 2025 population.
• When we update it: twice a year, in the spring after the Census population release and in the fall after the American Community Survey release. We last checked every figure against its source on November 3, 2026.