Long-term rental yields across 63 Queens neighborhoods range from 6.8% in Rego Park (11374) down to below 3% in premium areas close to Manhattan, a spread wider than most investors expect inside a single New York City borough. Short-term rental is effectively prohibited in Queens under NYC Local Law 18, which means this ranking focuses on long-term rental returns, the only legal path to rental cash flow for investment property in this market. Where you buy matters far more than how you finance or manage the property.
Regulatory reality: Short-term rentals heavily restricted in New York. Investment properties generally not permitted; may require owner occupancy, specific zoning, or other conditions (permit required, $145). NYC Local Law 18 (2023) effectively bans most short-term rentals under 30 days. Hosts must register, be present during stays, and may host no more than 2 guests. Entire-home rentals under 30 days are prohibited. Entire-home short-term rentals under 30 days are not a legal option for non-owner-occupied investment property in Queens. Treat the figures below as long-term rental returns only.
Rego Park (11374) Tops the Yield Ranking at 6.8%
The top-yielding neighborhoods are spread across central and south-eastern Queens, where 3-bed house prices are well below the borough median of $905,444 but rents remain supported by strong family and immigrant tenant demand. The table below shows the five highest long-term rental yields in Queens (Queens County).
Gross yields = annual rent / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. Short-term rental yields are not shown because whole-home short-term rental is prohibited for investment property in New York City. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count.
Transit Access and Affordability Drive the Top Three
Rego Park (11374) leads the ranking because its mid-rise co-op and small-house stock trades at a substantial discount to western Queens while sitting directly on the M and R subway lines into Midtown, which supports family rents at roughly $3,180 per month. The mix of post-war housing and large immigrant tenant base keeps vacancy low and turnover predictable, the two conditions most important to long-term rental income.
Jamaica (11433) is anchored by one of the deepest transit nodes in the region: the Jamaica Center subway, the LIRR, and the JFK AirTrain converge within a few blocks, which draws airport workers, healthcare staff from Jamaica Hospital and medical school students. The entry price of roughly $630,000 is well under the borough median, yet rents of around $3,247 per month reflect a genuinely job-accessible location rather than a depressed market. Springfield Gardens (11413) extends the same south-eastern Queens pattern further out, with detached and semi-detached family houses that attract multi-generational households working at the airport and surrounding logistics employers.
The common thread across all three is not remoteness. It is affordable housing stock positioned near unambiguously strong employment and transit, which is why rents hold up even as sale prices remain a fraction of Manhattan-adjacent Queens.
The Yield-Price Trade-Off: Cheaper Suburbs Win on Income, Premium Suburbs Win on Growth
Rent does not fall as fast as price across the borough, which is why the yield ranking is essentially a reverse price ranking. An investor entering Rego Park (11374) at roughly $559,475 is buying into the same borough as someone paying $905,444 at the Queens median, but with roughly half the capital at risk and a yield near double. The trade-off is capital growth: western Queens neighborhoods closer to Manhattan have historically delivered stronger price appreciation, funded by buyers who are willing to accept a sub-4% yield because they are underwriting location value, not rental income.
This is the core appreciation play that defines New York City investment: buyers at the top of the price range are not really rental investors, they are land-value investors who happen to have a tenant paying part of the carry. Buyers at the top of the yield ranking are the opposite: they prioritise cash flow today over capital gain tomorrow. Both strategies exist inside the same borough, which is why Queens looks so different depending on which neighborhood you model.
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Premium Queens Neighborhoods: Lower Yield, Higher Rent, Stronger Liquidity
For context, here is how some of Queens' highest-rent neighborhoods compare. These are established, liquid markets where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth, rental depth and faster re-sale. Long Island City, Astoria and the brownstone districts anchor this group.
High-rent Queens neighborhoods, same 3-bed-house methodology as the yield ranking above.
These neighborhoods yield less as long-term rentals because their prices reflect Manhattan-commute value, amenity concentration and the expectation of continued appreciation. Short-term rental would not rescue the yield: entire-home short-term stays under 30 days is banned across all of these areas, so the rental economics are set by long-term rents regardless of how a property is marketed.
What the Ranking Does Not Show
A high gross yield is not the same as a high total return. The southeastern Queens neighborhoods at the top of the table have historically appreciated more slowly than the Manhattan-facing premium areas, which means an investor optimising purely for yield is giving up the single largest return driver in New York real estate over any long holding period. Total return, which is income plus price growth minus costs, frequently favors the lower-yielding neighborhoods, especially for leveraged buyers where a 3% to 4% annual appreciation on an $905,444 purchase dwarfs the rental gap.
The ranking is also a median, not a guarantee. Individual blocks and individual buildings inside each ZIP diverge from the reported median, particularly in Queens where you can move from detached single-family streets to mid-rise co-op buildings in two blocks. Vacancy risk, building type and rent-stabilisation status all change the underwrite at the property level and none of them are captured in a ZIP-level yield figure.
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Top Queens Yields Beat the National Median, but the Borough Median Does Not
The Queens borough-wide long-term rental yield of 3.6% sits below the US median of 5.3%, which is the expected pattern for any dense, high-priced coastal metro. The top of the Queens ranking, however, beats the national median: Rego Park (11374) at 6.8% and Jamaica (11433) at 6.2% both deliver yields that would be competitive in most US markets, while retaining the tenant depth, job-market resilience and appreciation optionality of a New York City location. That combination is unusual and it is the strongest argument for treating neighborhood selection, rather than financing or management, as the single most important decision in this market. Investors chasing pure yield in exchange for thinner tenant pools can explore market score methodology and data sources used to generate these figures.
Data reflects market conditions as of May 2026.
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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.
Methodology and Assumptions
Defaults used in the figures above. All inputs are adjustable in the dashboard.
How available nights are determined
Available nights default to 330 per year, reflecting an active operator with minimal blocked time. Where local regulations cap whole-home short-term lets (for example London at 90 nights, New South Wales at 180), the cap is applied. In markets where short-term rental requires owner-occupancy or is otherwise prohibited for investment properties, available nights drop to zero.
How occupancy is measured
The percentage of available nights that get booked, drawn from market data. A property listed for 200 nights with 100 bookings shows 50% occupancy. Adjustable in the dashboard.
Long-term rental management default
Defaults to self-managed (zero management fee), reflecting the most common arrangement for US individual investors. The dashboard slider lets you add a property manager fee if you plan to outsource.
Short-term rental management default
Set to self-managed (zero management fee) by default, the most common arrangement for individual investors. Hiring a professional manager typically costs around 20% of gross revenue and reduces net yield proportionally. Toggle in the dashboard.
How property tax is calculated
Calculated as a percentage of property value, varying by state and county. California properties show lower effective rates due to Proposition 13's 1% cap on assessed value. Property tax sits with the owner; long-term tenants do not pay it.
Local regulations
Check state, council, and HOA rules before investing; these change frequently. The regulations summary in this article reflects the latest data we hold. Always verify the live position with the local authority.
Sampling and data sources
Short-term rental yield figures reflect properties currently listed on short-term rental platforms. In high-tourism markets, listings tend to concentrate in central postcodes, which can pull city-median yields above what residential areas of the same city would achieve. Yields for any specific suburb may differ significantly from the city-wide median.
For metric definitions and broader methodology, see the About page.