Region · Census East North Central division · Midwest
East North Central rental markets
The Great Lakes industrial Midwest. 5 states and 1,013 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
East North Central ranks #6 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 47.5/100 across its ranked cities, right at the national median. 5 states make up this division. Its strongest factor is gross rental yield: 7.4%, 1st of 9, backed by rent growth (1st).
The biggest drag is job growth: 0.3%, 9th of 9. A region grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 1013 ranked cities in this region. The national rank compares all 9 regions on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | Region value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 7.4% | #1 of 9 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.7% | #1 of 9 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 5.3% | #2 of 9 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.2% | #8 of 9 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.3% | #9 of 9 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 3.8× | #1 of 9 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 4.4% | #7 of 9 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 38% renters · 5.1% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 4.9% | #6 of 9 |
States in the East North Central division
Ordered by median Overall across each state's ranked cities. A public rank appears only for states that clear the 20-city and 10-county coverage threshold.
Top 25 cities in the East North Central division
The 25 highest-ranked of its 1,013 ranked cities, in national order. Every city links to its full shown-math breakdown; all 1,013 are in the market explorer.
| Div rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsburg IN | 84 | A | A | A | $358,683 | 6.6% | #2 |
| 2 | Greenfield IN | 79 | B | A | B | $289,335 | 6.9% | #8 |
| 3 | Whitestown IN | 79 | A | A | B | $359,047 | 7.0% | #9 |
| 4 med | Seymour IN | 79 | A | B | A | $233,074 | 7.5% ACS | #11 |
| 5 med | Whiteland IN | 78 | A | A | B | $298,190 | 8.6% ACS | #16 |
| 6 | Danville IN | 77 | B | A | A | $343,236 | 5.8% | #20 |
| 7 | Franklin IN | 77 | A | B | B | $284,320 | 7.3% | #23 |
| 8 | Speedway IN | 75 | A | B | B | $236,311 | 8.5% | #38 |
| 9 med | Huntertown IN | 75 | A | A | B | $353,237 | 6.2% ACS | #41 |
| 10 | Lebanon IN | 74 | B | B | A | $303,537 | 6.7% | #49 |
| 11 | Plainfield IL | 73 | A | B | B | $429,313 | 8.4% | #67 |
| 12 | Avon IN | 73 | B | B | B | $355,319 | 6.2% | #69 |
| 13 | Plainfield IN | 72 | B | A | B | $334,756 | 6.2% | #86 |
| 14 | Obetz OH | 71 | A | B | C | $274,415 | 8.9% | #119 |
| 15 med | Connersville IN | 71 | A | C | B | $160,016 | 8.9% ACS | #122 |
| 16 | Noblesville IN | 71 | B | A | B | $392,593 | 5.3% | #128 |
| 17 | New Whiteland IN | 70 | A | B | C | $229,868 | 10.4% | #134 |
| 18 med | New Haven IN | 70 | B | B | C | $245,987 | 7.2% ACS | #139 |
| 19 | North Ridgeville OH | 70 | A | B | B | $334,100 | 7.7% | #150 |
| 20 | Westfield IN | 69 | C | B | B | $473,286 | 4.9% | #155 |
| 21 med | Cumberland IN | 69 | B | A | C | $292,575 | 5.8% ACS | #172 |
| 22 med | Harrison OH | 69 | B | B | B | $319,311 | 6.0% ACS | #179 |
| 23 | Fishers IN | 69 | B | B | B | $444,527 | 5.2% | #185 |
| 24 | Pataskala OH | 69 | B | B | B | $389,516 | 7.4% | #187 |
| 25 med | North College Hill OH | 68 | A | C | B | $154,000 ACS | 8.3% ACS | #190 |
Figures marked ACS come from the Census American Community Survey (5-year, 2020–2024), because Zillow publishes no index for that city: an ACS home value is the owner-reported median, and an ACS yield is the median gross rent over that median. 8 of the 25 cities shown carry one.
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2020–2024 · Census PEP July 2025 · BLS LAUS county 2025 annual (11-month average). Generated 2026-10-06. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.