Lincoln Is Last in Nebraska on Yield, at 5.19%
Program and regulatory figures verified October 7, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
The lowest number on our Nebraska table. Lincoln is a real market with real tenant demand, and the yield still does not clear the state.
The number
For the month ending 31 August 2026, Lincoln's typical home value was $302,685 and its typical asking rent $1,308. Gross yield: 5.19%, eleventh of eleven.
Lexington led the state at 7.23%, so Lincoln sits 2.04 points behind, which is the entire width of the Nebraska distribution. All 11 markets.
★ The gap with Omaha is rent, not value
The two metros are close on value: $302,685 here against Omaha's $308,213, a difference of about two percent. The rent is where they separate — $1,308 against $1,413, a gap of $105 a month.
That $105 is most of the 31 basis points between them. On a single door it is a modest sum; across a hold it is the difference between the state's worst yield and its second-worst.
★ The university-town pattern
We found the same shape in Iowa, which we built the same night: Ames, home of Iowa State, ranked 14th of 15 there. Lincoln is 11th of 11 here.
The mechanism is not mysterious. A large student renter population supports occupancy and a stable rent floor, which supports owner-occupant demand and therefore values, and values are the denominator. Strong demand does not automatically mean strong yield. It often means the opposite, because demand gets capitalised into price faster than into rent.
★ So treat "it is a university town" as a statement about vacancy risk, not about yield. Those are different questions and they point in different directions here.
Who Lincoln suits
A buyer underwriting for stability rather than current yield: predictable tenant demand, a shorter expected vacancy, and a market with enough transaction volume to support an appraisal. That last point matters if a refinance is in the plan. Why.
A buyer underwriting for cash flow should look west. Lexington at 7.23% · Kearney and Grand Island.
★ And we will say this on a call: if you are placing one Nebraska door for yield, Lincoln is the hardest place in the state to make the numbers work, and we would rather tell you before the appraisal than after.
The tax line is not softer here either
Nebraska assesses all real property at actual value with no residential limitation, and the homestead exemption needs a natural person who owns of record and occupies from January 1 through August 15. A Lincoln rental gets neither relief. The structure.
The loan
A DSCR loan qualifies the property: the rent supports the debt, tax returns are not the qualifying document, title can sit in an entity, and the foreclosure position is the statewide one-month clock with no occupancy test. How it works.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com.
Frequently asked questions
What is the rental yield in Lincoln, Nebraska?
A gross yield of 5.19% for the month ending 31 August 2026, on a Zillow typical home value of $302,685 against a Zillow typical asking rent of $1,308. That was the lowest of the eleven Nebraska metros publishing both series. Gross yield is a market indicator, not a property-level underwrite.Why does Lincoln have a lower rental yield than Omaha?
Rent, not value. The two metros were within about two percent on typical home value for the month ending 31 August 2026, at $302,685 in Lincoln and $308,213 in Omaha, while typical asking rent was $1,308 against $1,413. That $105 monthly gap accounts for most of the difference between 5.19% and 5.50%.Are university towns good rental markets?
They are good occupancy markets and often poor yield markets. A large student renter population supports a stable rent floor, which supports values, and values are the denominator in a yield calculation. Lincoln ranked eleventh of eleven in Nebraska and Ames ranked fourteenth of fifteen in Iowa for the month ending 31 August 2026.Should I buy a rental in Lincoln for cash flow?
It is the hardest Nebraska market in which to do so. Lincoln had the state's lowest gross yield at 5.19% for the month ending 31 August 2026, 2.04 points behind Lexington at 7.23%. Lincoln suits a buyer underwriting for stability and appraisal depth; a cash-flow buyer is usually better served along the I-80 corridor.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about investment-property financing, not a loan commitment and not legal or tax advice. Nebraska foreclosure, reinstatement and deficiency rules are set by the Nebraska Trust Deeds Act and change; figures here carry the date we verified them against the statutes themselves. Gross yield figures are a market indicator built from published typical values and typical asking rents, not a property-level underwrite: they exclude taxes, insurance, vacancy and management. Property valuation and the homestead exemption are administered by the county assessor and the Department of Revenue. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.