Del Valle/Airport (78719) Leads Austin Yields at 7.5%, Nearly Double the City Median

Yields across 48 suburbs in Austin (Travis County) range from 7.5% in Del Valle/Airport (78719) down to well under the city median of 4.1% in the premium inner neighborhoods. That spread is wider than the gap between short-term rental and long-term rental at the city level, which means WHERE you buy matters more than HOW you rent it out. Austin's price-to-rent divergence is severe: sale prices climb into seven figures near downtown, but rents do not scale at the same rate, leaving investors in east-side and outer suburbs with the strongest income returns. This ranking shows which suburbs lead on gross yield and explains why the pattern exists.

Del Valle/Airport (78719) Leads at 7.5%, Beating the City Median by Over 3 Points

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

East-Side and Airport-Corridor Suburbs Drive the Yield Leaderboard

The top of the Austin yield ranking is dominated by neighborhoods east and southeast of the central business district, where entry prices sit well below the city median of $522,850 but rents remain anchored by proximity to jobs, the airport, and Tesla's Gigafactory in Del Valle. Del Valle/Airport (78719) leads at 7.5% because sale prices around $302,000 are roughly 42% below the city median, yet rents of $1,875 per month are within shouting distance of the city-wide rent of $1,783. When the denominator falls faster than the numerator, yield rises. This is the core pattern driving the entire table.

East Austin/Colony Park (78724) and East Austin (78721) occupy the second and third spots for the same structural reason, with a twist: East Austin has gentrified rapidly over the past decade, which means rents have been pulled up by creative-class demand and walkability to downtown while prices, though rising, have not yet caught up to west-side equivalents. That rent-lift-without-full-price-lift window is the sweet spot for an income-focused investor. East Austin (78721)'s higher entry price of $440,000 pairs with stronger rents of $2,332, showing the pattern hold even as you move closer in.

Del Valle (78617) and Manor (78653) are more conventional outer-suburb plays: affordable entry, steady family tenant demand, and less rent growth than the east side but also less price inflation. These suburbs are more purely long-term rental territory, with stable tenant pools tied to employment centers rather than to tourism. The short-term rental yield columns in the table above show how the picture shifts when you overlay Airbnb revenue; tourist-pull suburbs benefit more from short-stay strategies, while commuter-heavy suburbs tend to earn their keep through annual leases.

The Cheaper the Suburb, the Higher the Yield: Austin's Price-Rent Divergence

Austin illustrates the classic inverse relationship between price and yield more sharply than most US cities. An investor entering at $302,000 in Del Valle/Airport (78719) versus $522,850 at the city median faces a very different capital-risk profile: the top-yield suburb requires roughly 42% less capital, carries a smaller absolute downside in a correction, and produces rent that covers a larger share of the mortgage. The trade-off is that premium central Austin has historically delivered stronger price appreciation, which is why buyers accept yields below 4.1% in those areas.

The arithmetic is straightforward. Austin rents do not scale linearly with sale prices. A 3-bed house at $1,897,500 does not command a rent five or six times higher than one at $220,316, because Austin rents are capped by tenant incomes, not by the seller's asking price. That ceiling effect compresses yields at the top end and expands them at the bottom end. Every premium market shows this pattern to some degree, but Austin's capital-growth narrative has pulled the top-end prices up faster than the national average, widening the gap further.

Premium Central Suburbs Trade Yield for Liquidity and Growth

For context, here is how some of Austin's most in-demand suburbs compare. These are established neighborhoods where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth, rental stability, and easier resale liquidity.

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

These premium suburbs yield less on long-term rental because buyers are paying for school catchments, walkability, lake access, and an expectation of sustained capital growth rather than current rental income. The short-term rental yield column changes the picture meaningfully for any premium suburb close to downtown, the music venues, or the lake: tourist demand pushes nightly rates well above what the long-term rent-per-night equivalent would imply, which is why a short-stay strategy can partially close the yield gap in central Austin. For outer premium suburbs without tourist draw, the short-term figure offers less of a lift.

What the Yield Ranking Does Not Show

Yield is rent divided by price, and a high yield can signal depressed prices rather than strong rents. A suburb sitting at 7.5% might be cheap because the area has weaker capital growth prospects, thinner buyer pools at resale, or demographic headwinds that do not show up in a single year's median. The dashboard's market score blends yield with rental demand and price trend signals to flag when a high yield is trustworthy versus when it reflects a structural discount, and the market score methodology explains how the composite is constructed.

The ranking also does not capture capital growth. Premium central Austin suburbs have historically delivered stronger price appreciation than the east-side and airport-corridor leaders, which means total return (income plus growth) can favor the lower-yield neighborhoods over a 10-year hold. Vacancy risk, tenant quality, and the age of the median sale data are additional factors a spreadsheet ranking cannot capture, particularly in fast-moving Austin suburbs where comparable sales can lag the true market by several months.

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

Austin's Top Suburb Beats the National Median, but the City Falls Below It

The Austin yield range spans both sides of the benchmark. The city median of 4.1% sits below the national median of 5.3% and well below the Texas state median of 6.1%, which reflects Austin's premium-market status within Texas. But Del Valle/Airport (78719)'s 7.5% clears both the national benchmark and the state median comfortably, showing that suburb selection alone can turn a below-national-average market into a competitive one. This is why the hub-level "Austin yields X%" framing is incomplete without the suburb breakdown, and why the dashboard's suburb-level view is the starting point for any serious underwriting.

On regulations, Texas state law prevents cities from banning short-term rentals outright, though cities may regulate through permitting and zoning. Hotel occupancy tax at the state rate plus local rates applies to short-stay income, and Austin is one of the more investor-friendly major US markets for short-term rental. The short-term rental yield columns in both tables above apply across the full ranking, not just the tourist-proximate suburbs, though the realised premium depends heavily on location relative to downtown, the lake, and event venues. The data sources page details how rents, prices, and occupancy are estimated at the suburb level.

These are city-level and suburb-level medians. Individual properties diverge significantly based on bedroom count, property type, and specific block. Explore rental data in the dashboard for the suburb-level numbers on every bedroom count and property type in Travis, Texas. For comparisons to nearby Texas markets, see Fort Worth Long-Term Rentals Yield 6.0%, Short-Term Caps Kill the Alternative and Dallas Short-Term Rentals Gross 80% More, but Costs Narrow the Gap.

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.