That said, I’m not willing to lose my shirt on a bad deal just to learn so I think I need to continue exploring both paths: looking for personal deals and deals I could bring to the business (and which I could invest in).

While I acknowledge that economic strength is just one facet of a good rental market, it is a major factor and I wanted to share what I've found (the details of my methodology and raw data can be found after the various rankings):Top 10 best economiesProvo-Orem, UTSalt Lake City, UTCharlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SCChicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WIDallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXKansas City, MO-KSLongview, TXLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-INSan Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CABirmingham-Hoover, ALThere were two main factors to overall economic strength that I looked at – how diverse/broad the economy is and how many economic drivers (i.e. strength) the area has.

However we both think it’s never too early to explore.

@Bob Huggins Especially since you're listed on so many different platforms, none of those are going to outport anything useful that's compatible with each other - instead of fighting with their data and trying to consolidate it, I think you'll find it far less frustrating/more useful to design your own spreadsheet

Lot's of online tools to help you learn more about crime, medium income, demographic data, and etc.

They also keep years old listings that have sold and cancelled, and it's just the most inaccurate place for data tbh.

This is based on a few years experience exploring the NOLA market and several years living there part time.  

Once you have 5 or 6 properties then go and explore another state.

I have looked at citydata.com, worldpopulation.com and the US census data website (which shows data gathered in 2010).

Take your time and explore and decide what you want to do.