Market rankings · county data · updated October 18, 2026
The best Tennessee markets for DSCR investors
5 markets ranked by how much of a typical house's full monthly payment the rent covers. Clarksville, TN leads at 0.84x. 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 | Clarksville, TN | 0.84x | $169,500 | $251,500 | $1,301 | 6.2% | 0.61% | $1,290 | -1.1% | 566 |
| 2 | Memphis, TNmonthly hub | 0.81x | $159,000 | $247,200 | $1,293 | 6.3% | 0.86% | $1,540 | -2.4% | 1,275 |
| 3 | Knoxville, TN | 0.81x | $192,500 | $295,300 | $1,419 | 5.8% | 0.44% | $1,200 | -1.6% | 396 |
| 4 | Chattanooga, TN | 0.78x | $175,000 | $280,100 | $1,340 | 5.7% | 0.62% | $1,280 | -0.5% | 920 |
| 5 | Nashville, TN | 0.69x | $239,000 | $429,700 | $1,768 | 4.9% | 0.51% | $1,380 | -1.4% | 6,605 |
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.