Investing Outside My Market - Which Market?

[Mike M.]

Newbie here... 

Just like Mehran Kamari (podcast episode 72), I live in LA and would like to start investing in buy & hold rental properties, but the math simply doesn't seem to work here. I was born, raised and have family in St. Paul/Minneapolis and went to school in Milwaukee, so I have considered looking into those markets and leverage my existing networks to build a team and do my first deal, but I want to be sure I'm focusing on the right market before I go too far down the rabbit hole. Are there any good tools for finding which markets are good for different strategies or comparing different markets?