How Many Rentals for $15K/month?
Target: $15,000 in monthly rental cash flow after mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and vacancy — that’s $180,000 annually. Below is the real math using median-priced single-family homes across 19 US metros.
The math for $15K/month
Across the 19 US metros with complete rent and price data, the median single-family rental produces about $50/month in cash flow after a 20% down conventional loan, 30-year amortization, and 35% operating expenses.
To reach $15,000/month you need roughly 302 median-cash-flow doors. In a stronger-cash-flow market you need fewer; in a coastal metro you often need many more (or a different strategy entirely — short-term rentals, small multifamily, or heavy value-add).
The number is a planning baseline, not a forecast. Actual per-unit cash flow depends on the specific property, financing, and management.
Highest cash-flow-per-door markets
Ranked by modeled monthly cash flow on a median-priced single-family purchase. The units column shows what it takes to hit $15K/month there specifically.
| Market | Median price | Median rent | CF / mo | Units for $15K | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian, MS | $124,819 | $1,355 | $226 | 67 | $1.9M |
| Woodward, OK | $131,309 | $1,313 | $165 | 92 | $2.8M |
| Roanoke Rapids, NC | $107,523 | $1,077 | $136 | 111 | $2.7M |
| Houghton, MI | $194,696 | $1,733 | $106 | 142 | $6.4M |
| Blytheville, AR | $115,156 | $1,064 | $88 | 172 | $4.6M |
| Big Spring, TX | $150,742 | $1,340 | $81 | 186 | $6.4M |
These are metros with the strongest rent-to-price at the median. Higher cash flow often correlates with slower appreciation, lower population growth, or higher vacancy. Underwrite the specific property before buying, not the metro median.
What $15K/month actually looks like
At a median cash flow of $50/door, a 302-unit portfolio at $15K/month typically requires:
- $9.1M in cash across down payments and closing costs
- A financing mix — first 20 properties are usually conventional Fannie/Freddie; beyond that most investors move to DSCR or portfolio loans
- Third-party property management or a small in-house team by unit 10-15
- Reserve capital of 3-6 months of PITI per property — separate from acquisition capital above
Track your path to $15K/month
The Pro Portfolio Tracker rolls up every property you underwrite and shows the running total against your income goal. It uses the same Zillow ZHVI/ZORI data on this page to revalue properties monthly, so your progress reflects the real market.
- • Aggregate cash flow, cap rate and cash-on-cash across every property you own
- • Auto-revalue against your metro’s Zillow data every month
- • Alerts at each equity milestone ($100K, $250K, $500K, $1M) so you know when refinance windows open
- • PDF and Excel exports for lenders and partners
Methodology
Median home price and median rent are pulled from the latest Zillow ZHVI/ZORI feed across 19 US CBSA metros with complete data. The modeled deal on each metro assumes 20% down, 3% closing costs, a 30-year conventional at 7.50%, and total operating expenses (property tax, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, management) at 35% of gross rent. Monthly cash flow is rent minus mortgage minus operating expenses.