The Best Cities for Industrial Investing in 2026

As demand for industrial property is projected to outpace supply by late 2027, and with rents projected to rise moderately in the coming year, more investors are searching for the right markets to begin or expand their industrial portfolio.

To help industrial investors find the cities where their money goes the furthest, LoopNet analyzed more than 22,000 listings across 139 U.S. cities and ranked each based on the income a property generates relative to acquisition cost, the depth of available inventory, industrial employment trends, metro population growth, and building quality.

The Best Cities to Buy Industrial Property

1. Midland, Texas

Midland topped the rankings as the most well-rounded industrial market among cities in the study. Its median asking rent of $17.50 per square foot annually is the highest of any city in the top 10, and it had one of the lowest shares of Class C listings in the ranking. The city also saw an impressive 17.6% year-over-year manufacturing employment growth and ranked among the top 20 for available industrial listings. Investors should keep geography in mind, as the Midland commercial real estate market sits at the center of the Permian Basin, which ties industrial demand to oil and gas activity.

2. Lubbock, Texas

Like Midland, the industrial sector of the Lubbock CRE market earned its No. 2 spot on consistency, performing solidly across pricing, inventory, and employment. It boasts a healthy rent-to-price ratio with a median asking price of $94.96 per square foot compared to a median annual $10.50 asking rent. Industrial employment grew across the metro, led by manufacturing. However, over the past five years population growth reached 4.6%, well behind some other top-10 markets.

3. Indianapolis, Indiana

The Indianapolis commercial real estate market offers one of the more affordable industrial entry points among the top 10, with a median asking price of $83.52 per square foot and median annual rent of $8.50 per square foot. Industrial employment grew slightly year over year, but the city's location at the convergence of four interstate highways can support steady freight demand. Its share of Class C properties was higher than in other top markets, however, indicating returns may come from value-add investing rather than new stock.

4. Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the only market in the top 10 where industrial employment grew across all three sectors tracked: manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade. That broad-based demand pairs with one of the lowest entry points among top markets, at a median asking price of $78.75 per square foot. However, the industrial sector of the broader Tulsa CRE market also carries the highest share of Class C properties among the top 10, indicating a relatively lower share of turnkey assets.

5. Odessa, Texas

Odessa earns its top five spot thanks to a strong 12.6% rent-to-price ratio and an impressive listing pool, offering investors a wide selection of properties to evaluate. Industrial employment trended down year over year, with declines in both manufacturing and wholesale trade, the only negative employment picture among the top-ranked markets. Like Midland, the Odessa commercial real estate market sits in the Permian Basin, potentially tying demand to oil and gas activity.

6. Fort Myers, Florida

Fort Myers lands among the top 10 thanks largely to its demand metrics. Its metro population grew 14.4% over five years, and industrial employment growth was similarly strong year over year, led by an 11.0% gain in transportation and warehousing. That growth is priced in, however. The industrial sector of the Fort Myers commercial real estate market comes with a median asking price of $213.26 per square foot, the second highest of any top-ranked market.

7. Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines posted the strongest transportation and warehousing employment growth in the top 10, up 16.1% year over year. Pricing remains accessible, with a median asking price of $86.74 per square foot and median annual asking rent of $8 per square foot for a rent-to-price ratio of 9.2%. Selection is narrower here than in other top-ranked markets, however, so investors drawn to the fundamentals will have fewer properties to choose from in the Des Moines CRE market.

8. Austin, Texas

The Austin commercial real estate market comes with the strongest demand profile of any market in the top 10, with metro population up 13.9% over five years and manufacturing employment growing 17.2% year over year. Its industrial inventory also skews newer than most top-ranked markets, with the highest share of Class A properties among the group after Fort Worth. Those strengths also come with the highest median asking price per square foot of any top-10 city and a relatively low rent-to-price ratio of 5.9%, the weakest of any top market.

9. Fort Worth, Texas

The industrial sector of the Fort Worth commercial real estate market pairs quality with depth. It boasts a share of Class A properties more than double that of any other top city, one of the top 10's largest listing pools, and a strong 10.6% population growth over the past five years. The trade-off is one of the lower rent-to-price ratios in the top 10 and only marginal industrial employment growth year over year.

10. El Paso, Texas

At $77.03 per square foot, El Paso boasts the lowest median asking price of any market in the top 10, helping drive a healthy 11% rent-to-price ratio, one of the strongest in the group. Its location also gives the El Paso CRE market exposure to cross-border freight, unlike other markets in this list. Metro population growth over the past five years has been a slow 1.3%, the lowest of any top-ranked market.

Methodology

To determine the best cities for industrial investing, LoopNet analyzed more than 7,400 listings of industrial property for sale, over 15,000 industrial for lease listings, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment figures, and U.S. Census Bureau population data.

To qualify, a city needed at least 20 active industrial for-sale listings, and at least 10 of those listings had to disclose a price. All property and pricing figures reflect July 2026 data.

Each city was then scored on five weighted metrics chosen to capture factors that matter to industrial investors. We then applied a rank-based approach, scoring each city by its rank on each metric rather than its raw value, which prevents a single outlier market from skewing the results.

The metrics

• Rent-to-price ratio: 30%
• The heaviest-weighted metric compares a market's median annual asking rent per square foot to its median asking sale price per square foot. It is a gross indicator of the income a property generates relative to its acquisition cost and offers a useful way to compare relative value across markets. It should not be read as expected return: unlike a cap rate, it does not account for vacancy, operating expenses, taxes, or tenant concessions. Because asking rents and asking prices are drawn from separate sets of listings, the ratio compares two market-level medians rather than the economics of any single property.
• Industrial listing volume: 20%
• A measure of inventory depth and transaction liquidity, based on the total count of active industrial for-sale listings in each market. Industrial demand is driven by regional logistics and manufacturing activity rather than local residential population, so listing counts were not adjusted for population. These listings only include general industrial property, and do not include data center listings.
• Industrial employment trend: 20%
• The 12-month change in employment across manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade as of the fourth quarter of 2025, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures are calculated at the metropolitan level by aggregating county employment data. As a measure built on three sectors over a single period, it can be influenced by short-term movement in any one of them; Transportation and Warehousing in particular showed pronounced year-over-year swings in several markets.
• Metro population growth: 15%
• The five-year change in metropolitan population between July 2020 and July 2025, per Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates. Warehouse and last-mile distribution demand scales with the number of consumers a facility can serve, making population trajectory a demand signal distinct from employment.
• Share of Class C inventory, inverted: 15%
• Listings were classified as Class A, B, or C by building grade. To reward cities with a smaller share of the lowest building grade, we ranked cities inversely by their share of Class C space, so markets with less low-grade inventory score higher. Building class is assessed relative to local market norms rather than a national standard, which introduces some imprecision when comparing large coastal markets against smaller inland ones.

This ranking is intended as a starting point for research, not as investment advice; investors should conduct their own due diligence on any market or property.

Disclaimer: The figures presented in this article are based on a snapshot of LoopNet's active listings as of the publication date and may not reflect current market conditions. For comprehensive, commercial real estate data, subscribe to CoStar.

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