Rental market · Franklin, KY · Incorporated city

Franklin, KY: average rent, home values, and rental yield

On this page

East South Central · Population 10,360

DatasetCity Market Score, model balanced4,812 of 5,233 tracked U.S. markets rankedgenerated 2026-10-06Latest source releases: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI 2026-08 · Census ACS 5-yr 2024 · Census PEP 2025 · Census BPS 2025 · BLS LAUS 2025 · Redfin 2026-05 · FBI CDE 2025How this is built
A71.9
#98 of 4,812 ranked markets
Overall Score 71.9 · stronger than 98% of ranked markets · top 2%
Confidence 67/100 · 1 of 13 factors imputed, 3 dropped
Grade A: the biggest single drag is Growth, 71.4 of 100 at 35% of the score, which is 36% of the distance to a perfect 100. See the arithmetic

Why this market does or does not qualify

Overall City Market Score rank #98 of 4,812. Buy & Hold shortlist rank #18. Why rank and cash flow can disagree

Meets screen at 25% down
Investor-entry estimate$167,735
Modeled rent$1,448/mo
20% down · base cash flow+$60/mo
25% down · rent stress to base+$10/mo to +$120/mo
Hold Coverage · 20% / 25%1.07 / 1.14
Conditional price ceiling · 25%$169,001
Required rent at entry estimate$1,437/mo
Limiting requirementNone in baseline screen

Price × rent decision grid · 25% down

Change the two inputs that usually decide the deal. Green cells clear the three financial requirements before the separate quality and data gates.

Monthly cash flow / Hold Coverage10% below entry$150,961Entry estimate$167,73510% above entry$184,508
10% higher rent$1,592/mo+$330/moHC 1.44 · clears financial screen+$230/moHC 1.28 · clears financial screen+$130/moHC 1.14 · clears financial screen
Modeled rent$1,448/mo+$220/moHC 1.29 · clears financial screen+$120/moHC 1.14 · clears financial screen+$20/moHC 1.02 · does not clear
10% lower rent$1,303/mo+$110/moHC 1.14 · clears financial screen+$10/moHC 1.01 · does not clear−$90/moHC 0.90 · does not clear

Expense waterfall · base case

Monthly, rounded to $10. NOI excludes CapEx and debt service.

  1. Scheduled rent+$1,450/mo
  2. Vacancy allowance−$70/mo
  3. Management−$110/mo
  4. Maintenance−$70/mo
  5. Property tax−$90/mo
  6. Insurance allowance−$70/mo
  7. NOI+$1,030/mo
  8. CapEx reserve−$70/mo
  9. Debt service−$840/mo
  10. Cash flow+$120/mo
Base+$120/mo · HC 1.14Rent stress+$10/mo · rent −10%Insurance-expense stress−$20/mo · allowance 1.5%

Two supported strengths
Cash Flow 73/100 and Stability 72/100.

Weakest measured signal
Growth is the weakest category at 71/100.

Primary evidenced risk: unemployment is the weakest measured factor (34th national percentile). Data caveat: price is Zillow Bottom-Tier ZHVI (5th–35th percentile); rent is ZORI asking rent and is not bedroom- or property-matched. Insurance is a 0.5% annual allowance, not a quote.

Scenario buy-hold-v1-2026-09-19: 7% fixed financing for 30 years; 20% and 25% down; 5% vacancy; 8% management on collected rent; 5% maintenance and 5% CapEx on scheduled rent; measured local property tax; 3% closing costs. Qualification also requires positive cash flow, Hold Coverage at least 1.10, nonnegative cash flow after 10% lower rent, and the existing quality and data gates.

Property verification checklist
  • Confirm achievable rent with bedroom-matched comps, current listings, and any existing lease.
  • Use the parcel’s actual tax bill and reassessment rules.
  • Obtain a landlord insurance quote, including wind, flood, or named-storm coverage where relevant.
  • Inspect roof, structure, mechanicals, deferred maintenance, and immediate capital needs.
  • Verify utilities, HOA, licensing, inspection, registration, and local rental rules.
  • Replace the modeled loan with a current lender quote, points, closing costs, and reserve requirements.

Why this grade

Overall 71.9 is a weighted geometric mean of the three category scores. Because they are multiplied rather than averaged, their distances from a perfect 100 combine as an exact identity, and each category's share of that distance is the arithmetic below, not an estimate. Growth carries 36% of it, which is what makes it the binding constraint on this grade.

Cash Flow · 35% weight
72.8 / 100
34% of the shortfall
Growth · 35% weight
71.4 / 100
36% of the shortfall
Stability · 30% weight
71.5 / 100
31% of the shortfall

Inside Growth, the shortfall splits over the factors the model scored here, exactly, in proportion to their published weights. The largest component is job growth (weight 12 of the category's 31, 56th national percentile, 59% of the category's own shortfall); next is population growth (weight 12 of the category's 31, 83rd national percentile, 23% of the category's own shortfall).

What this is not. It is not a claim that a different value on any one factor would produce a different score or a different grade. Every factor is scored as a national percentile and the grade is a percentile cut against the other 4,812 ranked markets, so this market's position moves only relative to all of them, never on its own. 3 of the 13 factors could not be measured for this market (rent growth, violent crime, property crime) and had no credible reference group to impute from, so they are dropped: each category renormalizes over the factors that remain, and a dropped factor is never scored as neutral. 1 of the 13 factor was imputed (months of supply): the model had no city input of the kind it scores, so it used a reference median instead of a measurement (the same county, or the same state and population band; a national median for a yield cost input), and the factor table marks it as a fallback.

How Franklin ranks nationally

Each row places Franklin among all 4,812 ranked U.S. markets: the marker is this city, the centre tick is the national median, and the bar runs from one to the other. Further right is better for an investor; inverted measures (crime, vacancy, price-to-income) are already flipped.

Overall Scorethe flagship rank
71.998th percentile
Cash Flowyield & affordability
7378th percentile
Growthpopulation, jobs, income
7186th percentile
Stabilitycrime, vacancy, unemployment
7292nd percentile
Expense-adjusted yield4.5% net of costs
8585th percentile
Affordabilityprice-to-income 4.2×
53more affordable than 53%
Rental vacancy1.2% vacant
97tighter than 97%
Population growth1.7%/yr (capped)
8383rd percentile
Job growth0.7%/yr (capped)
5656th percentile

What a deal looks like here

A market-level buy-box for Franklin, built from this market's own numbers: the investor-entry price, its rent, and local carrying costs. The market grade is a quality screen; the deal verdict below is this financing scenario only. An illustrative scenario, not a listing.

Target buy price
$167,735
Expected rent
$1,448 /mo
Rent-to-price
0.86%
Cap rate
7.4%
Cash-on-cash
3.1% at 25% dn
NOI-based DSCR
1.23
Hold Coverage
1.14 after CapEx reserve

Meets screen at 25% down. At 25% down, named scenarios span +$10 to +$120/mo after reserves (10% lower-rent stress to base case). This range is not a confidence interval.

Buy target = Zillow Bottom-Tier ZHVI (5th–35th percentile) $167,735; typical home value $248,924. Rent = Zillow ZORI typical asking rent. Assumptions: 25% down, 7% / 30-yr, 5% vacancy, 8% management on collected rent, 5% maintenance, 5% CapEx reserve excluded from NOI and subtracted from cash flow, 0.5% insurance, 0.67% property tax. Illustrative market-level scenario: not a listing, appraisal, recommendation, or underwriting decision. Zillow price and rent as of 2026-08-31; dataset generated 2026-10-06.

Typical home value $248,924 Median rent $1,448/mo Population 10,360 Region East South Central

Price & rent history

Home value $104,683 → $248,924 (2015-03–2026-08)

Asking rent: only 2 data points (2026-07 → 2026-08) - too little history to chart honestly.

Source: Zillow ZHVI (home value), quarterly from 2015-03, monthly from 2016-09 to 2026-08. Change the range or hover to read any point. Gaps in the source series are left as gaps - never interpolated.

ZIP markets in Franklin

1 Census ZIP Code (ZCTAs) officially overlap Franklin by land area · 1 data-eligible for subscores. Overlap is Census land-area share, not a population or address share. Each ZIP Code's overall Rental Investor ZIP Score, grade and canonical national rank are shown below (the two component signals, affordability and rental market, are separate percentiles). There is no city-scoped ZIP rank: city overlap isn't a ranking universe, so only the national rank is shown. These ZIP rankings sit in the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, Franklin's city ranking. Vintage: the Key metric column below is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), the same survey release as the figures used above for Franklin itself; a city and a ZIP Code are different geographies, so the same measure can still show a different number at each level.

1 of 1 overlapping ZIP Code area, scoredgrade, overall Rental Investor ZIP Score and national rank for each, on a separate model from this page's city scoreShow table
ZIP CodeOverallgrade · natl rankTier · overlapAffordabilitysignal · natl rankRental marketsignal · natl rankKey metric
42134Franklin A 67#1,123 nat RankedPrimary 65#4,271 of 20,132 · top 21% 72#1,523 of 20,132 · top 8% 5.3%Survey yield
Open these 1 ZIP markets in the explorer →

The honest read

Franklin scores 72/100 overall (grade A): 73 for Cash Flow, 71 for Growth, and 72 for Stability, each a 0–100 score built from the factors in that category. The scenario above shows what a representative investor-entry purchase pencils out to at today's rates. Everything we can measure is in the table below, with its source.

Every factor, shown

The Overall score blends three category scores built from thirteen factors: Cash Flow (35%), Growth (35%), and Stability (30%). The tag on each percentile names the category a scored factor feeds; untagged rows are context, not scored. Each band chip restates that row's percentile in words. Every value carries its source and as-of date; a fallback source or imputed value is marked fallback. How the score works.

FactorValueNational percentileSource · as-ofWhat it means
Expense-adjusted yield4.5%Top quartile85th percentile · Cash FlowZillow ZORI/ZHVI · 2026-08-31Annual rent divided by price, net of a modeled vacancy, tax, capex, and management allowance: the core of the Cash Flow category and what the score is actually computed from. The unadjusted gross yield is shown elsewhere on this page.
Price to income4.2xAbove median53rd percentile · Cash FlowZillow + ACS income · 2026-08-31Home price over local median income. Lower is cheaper relative to what people earn. Part of the Cash Flow category.
Population growth1.7%/yrTop quartile83rd percentile · GrowthCensus PEP · Census PEP 2020→2025 (vintage 2025) + Census PEP 2015→2025 (vintages 2019+2025)Census population trend for the place, capped at 4.5%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate): the heaviest factor in the Growth category.
Job growth0.7%/yrAbove median56th percentile · GrowthBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2019→2025 (pre-COVID anchor; 2025 is an 11-month average) + BLS LAUS county annual 2015→2025County employment trend, capped at 4.0%/yr before scoring (diminishing returns above that rate). A Growth-category factor.
Income growth6.7%/yrTop quartile77th percentile · GrowthCensus ACS · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Local median-income trend. A Growth-category factor.
Rent growthnot measured-Census ACS · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year rent trend (the model's own weighting). A Growth-category factor.
Home-value growth5.7%/yrTop quartile77th percentile · GrowthZillow ZHVI · 3yr + 10yr to 2026-08-31A 40/60 blend of 3-year and 10-year price trend (the model's own weighting). A small Growth-category factor.
Violent crimenot measured-FBI Crime Data Explorer: no agency report for this placeReported violent crimes per 100,000 residents a year (the FBI's monthly agency rates, times 12). No agency reported this place to the FBI and no credible reference group exists, so the score drops this factor and Stability renormalizes over the rest. City-level data cannot resolve within-neighborhood risk.
Property crimenot measured-FBI Crime Data Explorer: no agency report for this placeReported property crimes per 100,000 residents a year. No agency reported this place to the FBI and no credible reference group exists, so the score drops this factor and Stability renormalizes over the rest.
Unemployment4.5%Below median34th percentile · StabilityBLS LAUS (county) · BLS LAUS county annual 2025 (11-month average)County unemployment rate. Lower is steadier, a Stability-category factor.
Rental vacancy1.2%Top 10%97th percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25004 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Share of rentals empty. Lower means more pricing power. A Stability-category factor.
Property tax rate0.7%Top quartile77th percentile · StabilityCensus ACS B25103/B25077 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Median tax over median value. A direct drag on cash flow, scored in the Stability category as carrying-cost burden.
Months of supply fallback3.0 moBelow median49th percentile · StabilityModel cohort median (eligible county or state/population cohort); no city-specific observation. Published 2026-10-06Listings over sales pace. Under about 4 is a seller market, over 6 a buyer market. A Stability-category factor.
Days on marketnot measured-derivedHow fast homes sell. Lower means more liquidity and an easier exit. Shown for context, not scored.
Sale-to-list rationot measured-derivedSale price over asking. Above 100% means homes clear over ask. Shown for context, not scored.
Net domestic migration+18.2/1kTop 10%95th percentileCensus PEP (county) · PEP vintage 2025Net people moving in or out of the county, per 1,000 residents. Shown for context, not scored.
Building permits99.2/1kBottom 10%2nd percentileCensus BPS (county) · BPS 2025New-construction permits per 1,000 homes. More means more supply coming. Shown for context, not scored.
Rent burden28%Above median70th percentileCensus ACS B25071 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Median rent as a share of income. Higher means less headroom for increases. Shown for context, not scored.
Median year built1973Below median41st percentileCensus ACS B25035 · ACS 5-yr 2020-2024Age of the housing stock. Older stock carries more capex. Shown for context, not scored.
Max drawdown4%Top 10%94th percentileZillow ZHVI · 2026-08-31Worst peak-to-trough home-value decline on record. Shown for context, not scored.

Where to go next from Franklin

Every link below is this market's own data taken one step further: its neighbours in the ranking, the same numbers side by side, or the same numbers in a calculator you can change.

Nearby in the Kentucky rankings, and national look-alikes

  • Corbin, KYGrade A · score 72/100 · yield 7.1% · $170,311 · #97 nationalZillow ZHVI $57k (2000) to $170k (2026), +197%
  • Independence, KYGrade A · score 71/100 · yield 7.5% · $328,011 · #127 nationalZillow ZHVI $141k (2000) to $328k (2026), +133%
  • Georgetown, KYGrade A · score 69/100 · yield 5.5% · $341,864 · #170 nationalZillow ZHVI $180k (2007) to $342k (2026), +90%
  • Stallings, NCGrade A · score 72/100 · yield 6.6% · $458,221 · #96 nationalZillow ZHVI $187k (2002) to $458k (2026), +145%
  • Port Wentworth, GAGrade A · score 72/100 · yield 7.4% · $289,234 · #94 nationalZillow ZHVI $93k (2000) to $289k (2026), +210%
  • Taylor, TXGrade A · score 72/100 · yield 8.6% · $280,723 · #95 nationalZillow ZHVI $123k (2008) to $281k (2026), +128%

All Kentucky cities →

Compare Franklin head to head

Underwrite a Franklin deal

  • Cap rateOpens on Franklin's own entry price and rent. Change either one.
  • Cash flow & DSCRMonthly cash flow and DSCR, prefilled with this market's numbers.
  • Mortgage paymentP&I on Franklin's entry price at the assumptions shown above.
  • All marketsCompare Franklin against 4,812 ranked cities.
  • Kentucky ZIP CodesEvery Kentucky ZIP Code area (Census ZCTAs), scored separately from the city rankings.
  • Ranked listsSix lists, each with a disclosed entry rule.

Ranked lists: Highest yield · Cheapest vs. income · Rent covers the mortgage · Under $200k · Fastest-growing · Most stable

For learning, not advice. A market screen from public data - not a forecast, not underwriting, not a recommendation to buy anywhere.