Market rankings · county data · updated October 18, 2026
The best North Carolina markets for DSCR investors
4 markets ranked by how much of a typical house's full monthly payment the rent covers. Winston, NC leads at 0.88x. 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 | Winston, NC | 0.88x | $167,500 | $235,400 | $1,281 | 6.5% | 0.71% | $1,060 | -0.7% | 316 |
| 2 | Charlotte, NCmonthly hub | 0.78x | $227,500 | $360,300 | $1,704 | 5.7% | 0.66% | $1,200 | +0.5% | 1,870 |
| 3 | Wilmington, NC | 0.73x | $211,500 | $363,300 | $1,640 | 5.4% | 0.55% | $1,920 | -0.6% | 7,930 |
| 4 | Raleigh, NC | 0.65x | $223,000 | $429,300 | $1,689 | 4.7% | 0.69% | $1,300 | +0.7% | 880 |
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.