Cobbs Creek (19139) Tops Philadelphia at 17.0% Gross Yield

Yields across 49 Philadelphia (Philadelphia County) suburbs range from 17.0% in Cobbs Creek (19139) down to the low single digits in premium inner neighborhoods. That spread is wider than the gap between any two property types or financing approaches in this market, which means where you buy inside Philadelphia drives returns more than how you rent it out. This ranking shows which neighborhoods lead on long-term rental gross yield and explains the pattern behind the gap.

Worth flagging upfront: short-term rental investment is heavily restricted in Philadelphia. Non-owner-occupied properties are treated as Visitor Accommodation use and require a zoning permit, and they are banned outright in lower-density residential zones. For a non-resident investor, the long-term rental column is the operative number throughout this article.

The Top 5 Suburbs by Long-Term Rental Yield

Gross yields = annual income / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count.

Warning: short-term rental figures apply only where legally permitted. Philadelphia bans non-owner-occupied short-term rentals in lower-density residential zones and requires a zoning permit elsewhere, so the short-term yield column is theoretical for most investment buyers in these neighborhoods.

Why Cobbs Creek (19139), Port Richmond/Kensington (19134) and Germantown (19138) Lead

Cobbs Creek (19139) tops the table because entry prices have not caught up with rental demand. The neighborhood sits just west of University City, where Penn and Drexel anchor a steady tenant pool of graduate students, hospital workers and recent graduates. Median 3-bed houses here trade at roughly $85,974, a fraction of the city median of $252,337, while monthly rents hold at $1,216. The math is straightforward: cheap stock plus inelastic rental demand produces double-digit gross yield. The same dynamic explains why income-focused investors have steadily moved further west of the universities over the past decade.

Port Richmond/Kensington (19134) comes in second at 16.8%. The Port Richmond and Kensington corridors are gentrifying from a low base, with row houses changing hands around $100,410 and monthly rents near $1,404. Proximity to the Market-Frankford Line gives tenants a direct commute into Center City, supporting rental demand even where the owner-occupier market remains thin. This is squarely a long-term rental neighborhood, with limited tourism demand to support a short-term play even in the absence of regulatory restriction.

Germantown (19138) rounds out the top three at 15.5%. Germantown's Victorian housing stock and direct regional rail access to Center City make it a reliable long-term rental neighborhood for working families. Entry prices around $128,003 sit well below the city median, but rents at $1,656 reflect deep tenant demand. Olney (19120) and Southwest Philly (19142) follow the same pattern: row-house stock at well below the city median, rents that have held up better than prices, and tenant pools anchored by transit access to employment centers further south.

The Yield Compresses As Prices Climb

The pattern across all three top-yielding suburbs is the same: yield is high because entry prices are low relative to rents, not because rents are exceptional. An investor entering at $85,974 in Cobbs Creek (19139) versus $252,337 at the city median faces a very different capital-risk profile. The cheaper stock typically comes with older infrastructure, higher repair costs, and slower historical price appreciation. The yield is real, but it compensates for those risks rather than offering a free lunch.

The inverse holds at the top of the price ladder. Center City and the desirable inner neighborhoods trade at multiples of the city median because buyers are pricing in amenity, walkability, school catchments and capital growth potential rather than current income. Rents in those areas do not rise proportionally with prices, which compresses gross yield into the low single digits. This is not a Philadelphia quirk; the same inverse relationship between price and yield shows up in every major US metro, but the spread inside Philadelphia is unusually wide because the city contains both genuinely cheap row-house neighborhoods and prime brownstone blocks within a short drive of each other.

How Premium Philadelphia Neighborhoods Compare

For context, here is how some of Philadelphia's most in-demand neighborhoods compare. These are established areas where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth, liquidity, and stronger tenant quality.

High-demand suburbs for context. Same methodology as the yield ranking above.

These premium neighborhoods yield less on long-term rental because buyers are paying for capital growth and the lifestyle premium of walkable, amenity-rich locations. Short-term rental does not rescue the picture in Philadelphia: the city's regulatory framework treats non-owner-occupied short-term rentals as Visitor Accommodation, requires a zoning permit, and bans them outright in lower-density residential zones. For most investment buyers the long-term rental yield is the only one that matters.

What the Ranking Doesn't Show

Gross yield is the simplest comparison metric, but it hides three things investors should weigh before acting on a list like this. First, a high yield can mean depressed prices rather than strong rents. Cobbs Creek (19139)'s 17.0% reflects sale prices that have not recovered to their historical relationship with rents, which is an opportunity for income investors but a yellow flag for capital growth seekers. The premium suburbs in the second table have lower yields precisely because the market has bid prices up in anticipation of growth.

Second, vacancy risk and tenant quality vary dramatically across suburbs. The thinner the rental pool, the more painful a single vacant month becomes; the rougher the block, the higher the turnover and arrears risk. The medians in the table cannot capture this block-by-block variation. Third, total return matters more than current yield over a long hold. A premium suburb yielding 4% with steady annual price growth can outperform an outer suburb yielding 17% with flat prices over a 10-year horizon, before factoring in the easier financing and tenant pool of the premium location. None of this disqualifies the high-yield suburbs, but it argues for visiting the specific block, checking recent comparable sales, and modelling capital growth scenarios alongside the headline yield.

View Philadelphia in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

Philadelphia Beats Both the State and National Median

Philadelphia's city-median gross yield of 7.6% sits above the Pennsylvania state median of 6.0% and the US national median of 5.3%. The top-yielding suburb at 17.0% runs at roughly three times the national figure, which is why income-focused investors continue to look to older Northeast cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and parts of Pittsburgh. The bottom of the Philadelphia ranking, however, dips below the national median, which underscores the headline finding: picking the right neighborhood inside Philadelphia matters more than picking Philadelphia over another metro.

The dashboard at explore Philadelphia rental data in the dashboard breaks each of these neighborhoods out by property type, bedroom count, and operating-cost assumption, so you can stress-test a specific buying thesis rather than rely on the city or suburb median. Methodology details sit at market score methodology and data sources. For an investor weighing where short-term rental rules are friendlier, Philadelphia Delivers 7.6% Gross Yields Without Short-Term Rental covers the same question for a more permissive market.

Regulation context for any investor seriously considering short-term rental here: Short-term rentals heavily restricted in Philadelphia. Investment properties generally not permitted; may require owner occupancy, specific zoning, or other conditions (permit required, $50). Philadelphia requires a rental license and business tax registration. No night cap but the hotel tax applies. Operators must comply with city zoning and fire codes. [Updated 2026-03-28: Non-owner-occupied = Visitor Accommodation use, zoning permit required. Banned in lower-density residential.].. Closing costs and transfer taxes apply on every purchase and should be modelled with your settlement attorney before committing to a deal at the top of any of these tables.

Data reflects market conditions as of April 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.