Region · Census New England division · Northeast
New England rental markets
The six New England states. 6 states and 126 ranked cities, summarized by the median Overall across those cities.
The honest read
New England ranks #7 of 9 U.S. regions for rental investing, with a median Overall of 41.2/100 across its ranked cities, below the national median. 6 states make up this division. Its strongest factor is home-value growth: 5.4%, 1st of 9, backed by rent growth (2nd).
The biggest drag is job growth: 0.4%, 8th 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 126 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 | 5.5% | #7 of 9 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.6% | #2 of 9 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 5.4% | #1 of 9 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.5% | #6 of 9 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.4% | #8 of 9 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 6.2× | #7 of 9 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 4.2% | #6 of 9 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 50% renters · 3.7% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 5.4% | #4 of 9 |
States in the New England 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.
| Div rank | State | Overall score | Grade | Gross yield | Home-value growth | Price-to-income | Ranked cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | Maine | 44.6 | C | 5.7% | 5.3% | 5.6× | 20 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | Connecticut | 43.6 | D | 6.4% | 6.9% | 5.4× | 21 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | Rhode Island | 42.5 | D | 5.7% | 6.4% | 6.1× | 8 |
| #34 | Massachusetts | 38.8 | D | 5.1% | 4.8% | 6.8× | 56 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | New Hampshire | 37.4 | D | 5.5% | 6.2% | 5.4× | 13 |
| Insufficient coverage for headline state rank | Vermont | 31.3 | F | 5.7% | 3.3% | 5.7× | 8 |
Top 25 cities in the New England division
The 25 highest-ranked of its 126 ranked cities, in national order. Every city links to its full shown-math breakdown; all 126 are in the market explorer.
| Div rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westbrook ME | 65 | C | B | B | $458,320 | 6.3% | #363 |
| 2 | Waterville ME | 58 | C | C | B | $253,736 | 6.5% | #922 |
| 3 | South Portland ME | 57 | C | C | A | $522,512 | 5.7% | #971 |
| 4 | Lebanon NH | 57 | C | B | B | $464,813 | 6.7% | #1024 |
| 5 | Warwick RI | 54 | C | C | B | $422,122 | 6.2% | #1331 |
| 6 | Danbury CT | 53 | C | C | B | $492,946 | 6.2% | #1506 |
| 7 med | Gardiner ME | 52 | C | C | C | $289,603 | 6.0% ACS | #1640 |
| 8 | Cranston RI | 52 | D | C | B | $457,533 | 5.5% | #1643 |
| 9 | Auburn ME | 51 | C | C | C | $326,716 | 6.1% | #1751 |
| 10 | South Burlington VT | 51 | C | C | C | $483,135 | 6.4% | #1809 |
| 11 | Naugatuck CT | 51 | C | C | B | $353,857 | 6.6% | #1818 |
| 12 med | Randolph Town MA | 51 | C | C | B | $496,400 ACS | 5.1% ACS | #1830 |
| 13 | Middletown CT | 51 | C | C | B | $368,256 | 6.5% | #1838 |
| 14 | Saco ME | 51 | D | B | B | $524,610 | 4.6% | #1862 |
| 15 med | Bridgewater Town MA | 50 | D | C | B | $533,100 ACS | 4.7% ACS | #1900 |
| 16 | Groton CT | 50 | D | B | C | $447,813 | 5.9% | #1967 |
| 17 | East Providence RI | 50 | D | C | B | $447,287 | 5.4% | #1972 |
| 18 | Shelton CT | 50 | D | C | B | $565,911 | 5.4% | #2004 |
| 19 | Augusta ME | 49 | C | C | B | $282,091 | 6.7% | #2051 |
| 20 | Bristol CT | 49 | D | C | B | $350,637 | 5.8% | #2138 |
| 21 med | Sanford ME | 49 | D | B | C | $375,492 | 4.9% ACS | #2174 |
| 22 | Winooski VT | 48 | D | C | B | $433,964 | 6.0% | #2225 |
| 23 med | Southbridge Town MA | 48 | D | C | B | $294,800 ACS | 5.1% ACS | #2252 |
| 24 | Milford CT | 48 | C | C | B | $510,828 | 5.8% | #2290 |
| 25 | Lewiston ME | 48 | C | C | C | $298,174 | 5.9% | #2308 |
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. 5 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.