Best Cities for Rank and Rent: 25 Metros With Room to Rank

How this list was made: the City Picker scores 174 US metros and 2,400+ surrounding cities using GeoNames population data (approximate; places with 15,000+ people). “Nearby cities” means cities under 200,000 people within about 30 miles of the main city. These 25 get full points for nearby cities (8+) and for area size (under 1.5 million people in cities of 15,000+). The list does not check competition or contractor groups for your trade, that’s two quick checks you do yourself, below. Nothing here guarantees rankings, leads or income.

Which small metros are best for rank and rent?

These 13 have under 700,000 people in cities of 15,000+. Fewer competitors, and the smaller cities nearby give you several markets to test.

Which mid-size metros are worth a look?

These 12 have 700,000 to 1.5 million people. More searches, more competition. Start in the smaller cities around the main city and add the main city later.

Just outside the 25, with 9 to 11 nearby cities: New Orleans, Memphis, Raleigh, Jacksonville, Oklahoma City and Tucson.

What makes a good rank and rent city?

• A main city plus several small cities. Each nearby city is a separate market you can test, so a crowded main city does not end the idea. Add a city page only where you have something genuinely local to say: Google’s spam policies call near-copies made for each city doorway pages. The website template shows which pages to build first.
• Small enough to rank. In metros over about 3 million people, a new site competes with agencies and national brands. Under 1.5 million, local contractors often still have weak websites.
• Local sites, not national ones, on page one. If Google’s top ten for “[service] [main city]” is mostly directories (Angi, Yelp, HomeAdvisor) and thin sites, there’s room. If seven or more are strong local contractor sites, move on.
• Contractor groups you can post in. You need somewhere to post your first free lead. Look for several active Facebook groups for “[main city] contractors” or “[state] contractors”.
• A trade that fits. Basements and windows sell in cold metros, concrete and outdoor work in warm ones, ADUs where local rules allow them.

How do you check a city before you build?

It takes about ten minutes:

1. Pick a metro from the tables and a trade from the niche finder.
2. In a private browser window, Google “[service] [main city]”. Count the local contractor websites in the ten regular results under the map.
3. Search Facebook for “[main city] contractors” and “[state] contractors” groups. Count the active ones and note the biggest group’s size. That is where you will post your first free lead.
4. Score it: few local sites, several active groups and a trade with real job value means build. The City Picker’s Shortlist Scorer does this math for up to ten metro and trade combinations.

Which niche should you pair with each city?

Each niche page lists five example metros chosen for that trade: Retaining walls · Deck building · Bathroom remodeling · Kitchen remodeling · Roofing · Siding · Home additions and ADUs · Basement finishing · Concrete and pavers · Window replacement.

The Rank and Rent Starter Kit ($37) includes the full City Picker: all 174 metros with their nearby cities, the Shortlist Scorer, a trade-value table and a Page Planner that turns your winning metro into a page plan with the keyword in each H1 and URL.

Free tool: Check any city with the free rank and rent city checker. No sign-up.