Market rankings · county data · updated October 18, 2026
The best Texas markets for DSCR investors
4 markets ranked by how much of a typical house's full monthly payment the rent covers. San Antonio, TX leads at 0.73x. 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 | San Antonio, TX | 0.73x | $162,500 | $281,100 | $1,437 | 6.1% | 1.62% | $1,480 | -0.1% | 2,061 |
| 2 | Dallas, TX | 0.71x | $199,000 | $353,500 | $1,786 | 6.1% | 1.58% | $2,160 | +0.4% | 3,525 |
| 3 | Houston, TXmonthly hub | 0.70x | $161,000 | $296,400 | $1,489 | 6.0% | 1.61% | $2,140 | +0.6% | 159,858 |
| 4 | Austin, TX | 0.56x | $212,000 | $478,700 | $1,817 | 4.6% | 1.53% | $1,580 | +0.5% | 3,882 |
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.