Best Cities for Landlords in 2026.
The 100 US cities where landlords face the lowest eviction risk, weakest tenant protections, and most landlord-leaning environment. Ranked by Eviction Risk Score (1–10, lower is more landlord-friendly).
| # | City↕ | County↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | Rent Burden↕ | Average Rent↕ | Lean↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Short Pump VA | Henrico County | 29,026 | 3.1 | 25.8% | $1,847 | Dem |
| 002 | Mesa AZ | Maricopa County | 511,764 | 3.2 | 32.3% | $1,620 | IND |
| 003 | Plano TX | Collin County | 290,594 | 3.2 | 27.6% | $1,841 | IND |
| 004 | Gilbert AZ | Maricopa County | 280,262 | 3.2 | 28.9% | $2,110 | IND |
| 005 | Chandler AZ | Maricopa County | 280,136 | 3.2 | 28.4% | $1,902 | IND |
| 006 | Fort Wayne IN | Allen County | 268,589 | 3.2 | 28.5% | $999 | Rep |
| 007 | Lubbock TX | Lubbock County | 264,814 | 3.2 | 33.1% | $1,182 | Rep |
| 008 | Scottsdale AZ | Maricopa County | 243,821 | 3.2 | 29.2% | $2,013 | IND |
| 009 | Port St. Lucie FL | St. Lucie County | 232,491 | 3.2 | 34.6% | $1,937 | IND |
| 010 | Frisco TX | Collin County | 219,304 | 3.2 | 28.1% | $2,014 | IND |
| 011 | Cape Coral FL | Lee County | 215,536 | 3.2 | 37.2% | $1,858 | Rep |
| 012 | McKinney TX | Collin County | 210,600 | 3.2 | 29.4% | $1,901 | IND |
| 013 | Amarillo TX | Potter County | 201,885 | 3.2 | 28.6% | $1,092 | Rep |
| 014 | Sioux Falls SD | Minnehaha County | 201,469 | 3.2 | 26.5% | $1,035 | Rep |
| 015 | Overland Park KS | Johnson County | 200,306 | 3.2 | 26.9% | $1,515 | Dem |
| 016 | Peoria AZ | Maricopa County | 196,906 | 3.2 | 33.8% | $1,843 | IND |
| 017 | Surprise AZ | Maricopa County | 154,948 | 3.2 | 32.2% | $2,033 | IND |
| 018 | Mesquite TX | Starr County | 149,299 | 3.2 | 36.3% | $1,513 | Dem |
| 019 | Olathe KS | Johnson County | 145,057 | 3.2 | 27.6% | $1,314 | Dem |
| 020 | West Valley City UT | Salt Lake County | 138,437 | 3.2 | 29.7% | $1,504 | Dem |
| 021 | Cedar Rapids IA | Linn County | 137,264 | 3.2 | 28.0% | $967 | Dem |
| 022 | Midland TX | Midland County | 136,640 | 3.2 | 31.9% | $1,434 | Rep |
| 023 | Carrollton TX | Denton County | 133,740 | 3.2 | 29.2% | $1,735 | Rep |
| 024 | Fargo ND | Cass County | 131,627 | 3.2 | 26.3% | $946 | IND |
| 025 | Meridian ID | Ada County | 130,138 | 3.2 | 29.8% | $1,805 | IND |
| 026 | Abilene TX | Taylor County | 128,053 | 3.2 | 31.2% | $1,157 | Rep |
| 027 | Pearland TX | Brazoria County | 127,514 | 3.2 | 30.4% | $1,860 | Rep |
| 028 | Billings MT | Yellowstone County | 119,434 | 3.2 | 29.6% | $1,138 | Rep |
| 029 | Broken Arrow OK | Tulsa County | 118,180 | 3.2 | 27.0% | $1,320 | Rep |
| 030 | West Jordan UT | Salt Lake County | 116,692 | 3.2 | 31.1% | $1,757 | Dem |
| 031 | League City TX | Galveston County | 116,215 | 3.2 | 30.5% | $1,684 | Rep |
| 032 | Evansville IN | Vanderburgh County | 116,116 | 3.2 | 29.1% | $975 | Rep |
| 033 | Odessa TX | Ector County | 115,322 | 3.2 | 32.6% | $1,315 | Rep |
| 034 | Nampa ID | Canyon County | 110,319 | 3.2 | 30.0% | $1,420 | Rep |
| 035 | Sugar Land TX | Fort Bend County | 110,016 | 3.2 | 30.9% | $1,957 | Dem |
| 036 | Tyler TX | Smith County | 109,215 | 3.2 | 29.5% | $1,252 | Rep |
| 037 | South Bend IN | St. Joseph County | 103,085 | 3.2 | 30.2% | $1,033 | Dem |
| 038 | St. George UT | Washington County | 101,995 | 3.2 | 34.0% | $1,545 | Rep |
| 039 | Edmond OK | Oklahoma County | 96,825 | 3.2 | 31.2% | $1,344 | IND |
| 040 | Sandy UT | Salt Lake County | 94,291 | 3.2 | 28.8% | $1,777 | Dem |
| 041 | Mount Pleasant SC | Charleston County | 93,993 | 3.2 | 33.3% | $2,159 | Dem |
| 042 | O'Fallon MO | St. Charles County | 93,801 | 3.2 | 26.7% | $1,443 | Rep |
| 043 | Hoover AL | Jefferson County | 92,642 | 3.2 | 29.1% | $1,457 | Dem |
| 044 | Roswell GA | Fulton County | 92,621 | 3.2 | 30.9% | $1,810 | Dem |
| 045 | Fort Smith AR | Sebastian County | 89,805 | 3.2 | 25.6% | $884 | Rep |
| 046 | Springdale AR | Washington County | 88,160 | 3.2 | 25.3% | $1,071 | IND |
| 047 | Franklin TN | Williamson County | 87,133 | 3.2 | 28.7% | $1,923 | Rep |
| 048 | Sioux City IA | Woodbury County | 86,101 | 3.2 | 26.7% | $976 | Rep |
| 049 | Jonesboro AR | Craighead County | 80,137 | 3.2 | 32.5% | $956 | Rep |
| 050 | Rapid City SD | Pennington County | 77,946 | 3.2 | 30.1% | $1,109 | Rep |
| 051 | Missouri City TX | Fort Bend County | 76,558 | 3.2 | 39.7% | $1,931 | Dem |
| 052 | Bismarck ND | Burleigh County | 75,556 | 3.2 | 24.3% | $999 | Rep |
| 053 | Rogers AR | Benton County | 72,981 | 3.2 | 23.7% | $1,270 | Rep |
| 054 | St. Charles MO | St. Charles County | 71,508 | 3.2 | 26.5% | $1,251 | Rep |
| 055 | St. Joseph MO | Buchanan County | 71,236 | 3.2 | 30.8% | $898 | Rep |
| 056 | Shawnee KS | Johnson County | 68,542 | 3.2 | 25.8% | $1,322 | Dem |
| 057 | Idaho Falls ID | Bonneville County | 67,725 | 3.2 | 26.9% | $1,075 | Rep |
| 058 | Conway AR | Faulkner County | 67,642 | 3.2 | 28.8% | $1,011 | Rep |
| 059 | Caldwell ID | Canyon County | 66,516 | 3.2 | 29.8% | $1,264 | Rep |
| 060 | Cheyenne WY | Laramie County | 65,239 | 3.2 | 29.5% | $1,118 | Rep |
| 061 | St. Cloud FL | Osceola County | 65,130 | 3.2 | 34.5% | $1,683 | Dem |
| 062 | Bellevue NE | Sarpy County | 64,510 | 3.2 | 27.3% | $1,226 | Rep |
| 063 | Moore OK | Cleveland County | 63,420 | 3.2 | 27.7% | $1,340 | Rep |
| 064 | Great Falls MT | Cascade County | 60,329 | 3.2 | 28.2% | $900 | Rep |
| 065 | Owensboro KY | Daviess County | 60,302 | 3.2 | 27.1% | $905 | Rep |
| 066 | Madison AL | Madison County | 60,106 | 3.2 | 26.1% | $1,453 | Rep |
| 067 | St. Peters MO | St. Charles County | 59,092 | 3.2 | 29.1% | $1,321 | Rep |
| 068 | Grand Forks ND | Grand Forks County | 59,042 | 3.2 | 27.8% | $980 | Rep |
| 069 | Casper WY | Natrona County | 58,839 | 3.2 | 28.2% | $1,009 | Rep |
| 070 | Lake Havasu City AZ | Mohave County | 58,359 | 3.2 | 30.7% | $1,320 | Rep |
| 071 | Midwest City OK | Oklahoma County | 58,297 | 3.2 | 28.9% | $1,091 | IND |
| 072 | Bentonville AR | Benton County | 58,249 | 3.2 | 20.9% | $1,344 | Rep |
| 073 | Pocatello ID | Bannock County | 57,635 | 3.2 | 29.1% | $948 | Rep |
| 074 | Decatur AL | Morgan County | 57,361 | 3.2 | 28.8% | $896 | Rep |
| 075 | Kingsport TN | Sullivan County | 56,262 | 3.2 | 29.5% | $907 | Rep |
| 076 | Southaven MS | DeSoto County | 56,226 | 3.2 | 30.0% | $1,445 | Rep |
| 077 | Westfield IN | Hamilton County | 54,677 | 3.2 | 26.9% | $1,667 | Rep |
| 078 | Pensacola FL | Escambia County | 54,036 | 3.2 | 30.7% | $1,322 | Rep |
| 079 | Summerville SC | Dorchester County | 51,654 | 3.2 | 29.9% | $1,526 | Rep |
| 080 | Enid OK | Garfield County | 50,653 | 3.2 | 26.1% | $914 | Rep |
| 081 | University FL | Hillsborough County | 48,868 | 3.2 | 63.6% | $1,177 | Dem |
| 082 | Charleston WV | Kanawha County | 47,421 | 3.2 | 28.2% | $908 | Rep |
| 083 | Wentzville MO | St. Charles County | 47,061 | 3.2 | 30.6% | $1,345 | Rep |
| 084 | Olive Branch MS | DeSoto County | 47,019 | 3.2 | 27.5% | $1,829 | Rep |
| 085 | Salina KS | Saline County | 46,307 | 3.2 | 26.5% | $959 | Rep |
| 086 | Spanish Fork UT | Utah County | 44,946 | 3.2 | 26.6% | $1,489 | Rep |
| 087 | Jefferson City MO | Cole County | 42,488 | 3.2 | 24.2% | $802 | Rep |
| 088 | The Acreage FL | Palm Beach County | 40,843 | 3.2 | 15.2% | $1,710 | Dem |
| 089 | Florence SC | Florence County | 40,408 | 3.2 | 32.8% | $992 | IND |
| 090 | Owasso OK | Tulsa County | 40,151 | 3.2 | 27.6% | $1,270 | Rep |
| 091 | Roy UT | Weber County | 38,993 | 3.2 | 29.5% | $1,624 | Rep |
| 092 | Cedar City UT | Iron County | 38,524 | 3.2 | 31.4% | $1,054 | Rep |
| 093 | Tooele UT | Tooele County | 38,405 | 3.2 | 27.9% | $1,214 | Rep |
| 094 | Prosper TX | Collin County | 37,869 | 3.2 | 27.7% | $2,176 | IND |
| 095 | Tupelo MS | Lee County | 37,791 | 3.2 | 33.4% | $976 | Rep |
| 096 | Sun City AZ | Maricopa County | 37,486 | 3.2 | 42.0% | $1,569 | IND |
| 097 | North Ridgeville OH | Lorain County | 36,627 | 3.2 | 26.9% | $1,116 | IND |
| 098 | Syracuse UT | Davis County | 35,488 | 3.2 | 33.6% | $2,140 | Rep |
| 099 | Timberwood Park TX | Bexar County | 35,413 | 3.2 | 28.4% | $1,998 | Dem |
| 100 | Oakville MO | St. Louis County | 35,333 | 3.2 | 30.5% | $1,091 | Dem |
How the ranking is built
The Eviction Risk Score is a 1–10 index combining local, regional, and state political climate (2020 county presidential margin + state legislative posture), economic stress (Census ACS 2023 poverty + unemployment), supply constraint (renter share + median rent), rent-control risk (national percentile of rent burden), eviction process difficulty (state statute), tenant organizing strength (renter share), and housing court bias (state-weighted).
We include only cities with population ≥ 25,000 so the ranking reflects places where the dataset is robust and the practical landlord exposure is material. Every city on this list links to its full page with nine sub-scores, typical eviction cost, typical timeline, and an interactive map of neighboring cities.
Sources
What this ranking is based on. Positions reflect each city's legal and regulatory environment for landlords: statutes, ordinances, eviction timelines, filing costs, and court posture, combined with market-wide economics such as rent burden. Rankings never use tenant or neighborhood demographics, and the one-line notes on the top entries cite the specific enacted laws behind each position. Full detail on every input is on the methodology page.
US Census ACS 2023 5-year (poverty, unemployment, rent burden, median gross rent, renter share), 2024 Census Gazetteer (geometry), MIT Election Lab 2020 county presidential returns, state landlord-tenant statute citations, HUD cost-burden thresholds. Nothing on this list is synthesized. Where a source has no value for a city, it is excluded from that ranking, not filled in.