Memphis rents and rental comps

Name: Memphis, TN rental market data
Creator: PropMetrics

The median asking rent across 20 Memphis zip codes is $1,224/month, down 5.5% from a year ago.

FedEx's hometown and a favorite for out-of-state investors buying sight unseen. No state income tax, logistics-driven economy, entry prices that pencil. Know the specific neighborhood. Plenty of deals that look good on a spreadsheet don't look as good in person.

Median Asking Rent

$1,224

Rent Change (YoY)

-5.5%

Avg Days on Market

Active Rental Listings

2,843

Median List Price

$157,300

Median Asking Rent Over Time

Average across 20 zip codes

12 months-6.7%

Median Asking Rent by ZIP Code

Rental Listings by ZIP Code

ZIP	Median Rent	YoY Growth	$/Sqft	Avg DOM	Listings
38103	$1,995/mo	-13.1%	$1.46	47	113
38125	$1,970/mo	0.0%	$1.04	33	146
38119	$1,829/mo	+2.2%	$1.06	65	44
38117	$1,545/mo	-0.3%	$1.21	29	104
38120	$1,350/mo	-20.6%	$1.38	52	40
38128	$1,275/mo	-8.6%	$1.00	29	168
38118	$1,210/mo	-6.2%	$1.02	18	124
38111	$1,200/mo	-4.0%	$1.10	29	285
38116	$1,200/mo	-9.7%	$0.98	28	90
38107	$1,195/mo	0.0%	$0.99	38	113
38115	$1,195/mo	-14.3%	$0.93	35	120
38109	$1,100/mo	-1.3%	$1.05	17	175
38122	$1,095/mo	-8.8%	$1.07	26	140
38127	$1,095/mo	+0.5%	$1.00	20	275
38104	$1,090/mo	-9.2%	$1.25	59	286
38112	$1,089/mo	-0.1%	$1.06	47	145
38114	$1,025/mo	+7.9%	$1.04	47	154
38106	$995/mo	-0.5%	$0.95	34	168
38108	$900/mo	-5.3%	$1.00	20	110
38105	$875/mo	-18.6%	$1.07	57	43

Comps for any address in Memphis

Type the address, get the comps. No setup.

Median Asking Rent by Bedroom

Unit Size	Median Rent	$/Sqft
Studio	$899/mo	$1.95/sqft
1 Bedroom	$770/mo	$1.23/sqft
2 Bedroom	$918/mo	$1.02/sqft
3 Bedroom	$1,315/mo	$1.01/sqft
4 Bedroom	$1,620/mo	$1.02/sqft

Aggregated median across all Memphis zip codes with available data.

For-Sale Listings by ZIP Code

ZIP	Median List Price	YoY Change	$/Sqft
38120	$465,000	0.0%	$174.62
38103	$354,000	-2.3%	$211.85
38125	$310,000	-6.1%	$139.28
38104	$299,899	-14.3%	$169.89
38119	$295,000	-3.6%	$142.03
38117	$294,900	-7.8%	$170.95
38112	$204,999	-12.8%	$138.20
38111	$195,000	-13.3%	$143.03
38122	$168,000	-0.6%	$128.97
38115	$160,000	+10.4%	$91.38
38116	$154,600	-11.7%	$92.75
38107	$144,000	-9.9%	$105.00
38128	$139,900	-15.2%	$97.53
38118	$135,000	-0.6%	$103.33
38114	$114,000	+10.7%	$110.40
38105	$100,000	-37.5%	$129.85
38108	$99,900	+51.6%	$100.62
38127	$99,000	-5.7%	$88.61
38109	$94,900	-5.1%	$90.66
38106	$65,000	-5.8%	$72.35

HUD Fair Market Rents

Unit Size	Fair Market Rent	Median Asking Rent	Difference
Studio	$1,590/mo	$899/mo	-43%
1 Bedroom	$1,730/mo	$770/mo	-55%
2 Bedroom	$1,910/mo	$918/mo	-52%
3 Bedroom	$2,520/mo	$1,315/mo	-48%
4 Bedroom	$2,940/mo	$1,620/mo	-45%

HUD publishes Fair Market Rents once a year for the Memphis metro area. Local housing authorities use them to set Section 8 voucher payment standards, usually 90% to 110% of the FMR.

About the Memphis rental market

The median asking rent across Memphis, TN sits at $1,224/month, pulled from active rental listings in 20 zip codes. That's down 5.5% from a year ago.

Rents aren't uniform across the city. ZIP 38103 tops the list at $1,995/month. ZIP 38105 comes in lowest at $875/month. That's a 128% spread between the top and bottom zip codes, which is wide. City-wide averages won't tell you much about a specific property here.

A 2-bedroom rents for $918/month at the median. 1-bedrooms run about $770. 3-bedrooms come in around $1,315.

Listings take longer here. The average is 37 days on market, which gives renters more room to negotiate and means landlords should price carefully.

Gross rent-to-value lands around 9.3% ($1,224/month rent on a $157,300 median price). Middle of the pack for cash-flow markets.

HUD's Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in the Memphis metro is $1,910/month. Asking rents come in about 36% below the federal benchmark, which can make Section 8 properties competitive here.

Memphis is where a lot of out-of-state investors buy their first cash flow property. The turnkey rental industry here is massive. FedEx is headquartered here and is far and away the largest employer. No state income tax in Tennessee. Midtown, Cooper-Young, and East Memphis are premium. South Memphis and Frayser are where the turnkey operators concentrate because purchase prices are low. Memphis has been an investor market for a long time, which means PM infrastructure is well-developed. Plenty of property managers specialize in out-of-state investors. Operationally easier than some other cash flow markets. Pull your own rent comps though. Don't price off what a turnkey company tells you it'll rent for.

These numbers are city-wide averages. If you're pricing a specific property in Memphis, pull comps from the same zip code. The spread is usually bigger than people expect.