I think it is probably the most important stat.

Also, everyone’s risk tolerance is different, you may have the temperament to deal with potential riff-raff while others (like myself) do not.The 1% rule is a nice-to-have if you can get it, but don’t let it be your sole “make or break” stat if all the other numbers make sense.

I understand driving neighborhoods to get a feel for the area but I want to know about population growth trends, economic stats, safety, etc to better inform our market selection.Much thanks and God bless,Chris

I think the 1% rule is a fun stat to follow but there just doesn't seem to be any major markets across the US that offer it anymore. 

First you are going to examine what path you want which you dont seem to have nailed down.

Hey @Tommy Cangelosi, I use AirBNB and VRBO to check the basic stats for occupancy and nightly rates based on what I am looking to buy.You can really get a good idea just from scanning all the properties in your specific criteria.

Stats say that the area population has grown faster than the state avg, and median income has grown but not as much as the avg.

Just start taking addresses out of zillow and plopping them in to see some rough stats. 

I don't know the stats of houses you are thinking of buying but it needs to rent at the maximum of that range or you need more down payment, also assuming there is no HOA cost.

I got these stats from the site for Columbia for example:"Columbia, Maryland ranks #10 in the state of Maryland, and #424 of 19,654 cities nationwide."