Market rankings · county data · updated October 18, 2026
The best California markets for DSCR investors
4 markets ranked by how much of a typical house's full monthly payment the rent covers. Riverside, CA leads at 0.65x. At a 7.5% rate and 25% down, no typical house here reaches 1.00x on the HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, so the useful column is the price that clears 1.20x: below it, a house at that rent covers its payment with the cushion.
| # | Market | Typical house DSCR | Price that clears 1.20x | Typical value | Rent (2-bedroom) | Rent-to-price | Property tax | Insurance / yr | Jobs, 1 yr | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverside, CA | 0.65x | $280,500 | $533,000 | $2,103 | 4.7% | 0.74% | $1,280 | -1.5% | 746 |
| 2 | Sacramento, CA | 0.62x | $293,000 | $581,900 | $2,194 | 4.5% | 0.75% | $1,290 | -1.5% | 941 |
| 3 | San Francisco, CA | 0.45x | $438,000 | $1,196,400 | $3,231 | 3.2% | 0.74% | $1,460 | -1.7% | 1,928 |
| 4 | San Jose, CA | 0.38x | $450,500 | $1,469,500 | $3,266 | 2.7% | 0.67% | $1,260 | -0.5% | 427 |
Other states ranked
How the ranking works
Each market is the metro area DSCRInfo tracks, built from its counties' official data and weighted by households: the typical home value, effective property tax and the insurance owners report paying come from the Census household survey; the rent is the HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, weighted by renter households; flood claims are NFIP claims since 2005; the jobs change is a year of federal employment statistics. The property tax is for owner-occupied homes, which can carry a homestead exemption or assessment cap that a rental does not get, so a rental's tax can run higher, notably in states such as Florida and Texas.
The ratio is DSCR: the monthly rent divided by the full monthly payment for a house at the typical value, with 25% down, a 7.5% 30-year loan, property tax and insurance. The same formula runs the market pages and the calculator. Markets are ranked by that ratio, then by rent-to-price. The price that clears 1.20x is the highest price at which a house at that rent covers its full payment with a 20% cushion, on the same assumptions.
The HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent can sit below what a single-family house rents for, so every ratio here is cautious, and a specific house should be tested on its own rent. A lender sizes the loan on the lease or the appraiser's rent estimate, not on an area figure.