Hempstead County

Hempstead County lands at a median home price of $127,080 with year-over-year appreciation of 3.9%, scoring 83 out of 100 on appreciation and a perfect 100 on affordability. The affordability index reading of 100 means buyers are getting maximum relative value on purchase price, which is exactly where you want to be as a long-hold investor trying to minimize basis. The data does not include a median rent figure or gross rent multiplier, so a precise price-to-rent ratio and cap rate cannot be calculated from what's provided. What the scoring structure does tell you is that the cash flow score is listed at zero, which signals this market is not being flagged as a current cash-flow engine. Paired with the 83 appreciation score and a national percentile rank of 98th out of 1,000 counties, Hempstead is being positioned as an appreciation-oriented market with exceptional entry pricing rather than a high-yield income play.

The investor this market fits is someone buying at a low basis to benefit from price appreciation, not someone underwriting a 10% gross yield from day one. At $127,080 median purchase price and 3.9% annual home price growth, the nominal dollar gain on an all-cash purchase would be roughly $4,956 per year from appreciation alone, before any rental income. That is a meaningful return on a $127,080 asset even if the cash flow is thin. A value-add operator could also find opportunity here: buying at this price point leaves room to force equity through renovation without overreaching into a high-price submarket. The pure cash-flow buyer who needs strong month-one income and is targeting gross rent multipliers below 10 should look elsewhere based on the data available. Hempstead's case rests on price trajectory and entry cost, not yield compression.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Hempstead County, so the specific drivers of rental demand and job stability cannot be analyzed with confidence here. What is known is that the county has a population of 20,037, which puts it squarely in small-market territory. Small markets at this population level can deliver steady appreciation if the local employment base is stable, but they can also be sensitive to single-employer disruptions in ways that larger metros are not. An investor should independently verify the employment mix in Hope and the surrounding area before committing capital.

The carry cost picture is a genuine tailwind. At the state-average effective property tax rate of 0.62%, the annualized tax bill on a $127,080 home comes to approximately $788. Paired with estimated annual insurance of $610, the combined monthly tax and insurance burden is $117. That is a low number by national standards, and when you are already working with a modest cash flow profile, keeping fixed holding costs at $117 per month rather than $300 or $400 gives you meaningful operating margin. The 0.62% rate carries the honest caveat that it is a state-average estimate and actual county or township rates will differ. Pull the Hempstead County assessor data before closing, but the directional signal here is favorable. The low property tax flag is a real advantage, not a footnote.

The risks that are supported by the data are scale and concentration. A 20,037-person county with no detailed economic anchor information is a market where one plant closure or one institutional employer cutting headcount can move vacancy in a way that a 200,000-person MSA would absorb. The stability score of 50 out of 100 is the data's way of flagging this directly. Investors who need consistent occupancy to service debt should underwrite a higher vacancy assumption than they would in a larger market and stress-test their numbers at 10% to 15% vacancy before pulling the trigger.

Compared to the neighboring counties in the dataset, Hempstead at $127,080 median and an overall score of 78 offers the best combination of low entry price and high score among the group. Prairie County comes in at $149,082 with a score of 74. Grant County is at $206,491 with the same 74 score. Scott County is $152,008 at 73, and Perry County is $182,366 at 71. The only neighbor with a lower price is Jefferson County at $84,271, which also has actual rent data available showing a median rent of $885 and a rent-to-price ratio of 0.126, making it the clear cash-flow choice in this peer group. If your mandate is yield and current income, Jefferson County's 12.6% gross rent-to-price ratio is the number that demands attention. If your mandate is buying at a low basis in a market the data scores higher overall, Hempstead's 78 versus Jefferson's 71 and its $43,000 higher median price relative to Jefferson suggests the market is pricing in better quality or trajectory. Choose Hempstead over its neighbors when you prioritize appreciation score, affordability, and holding cost efficiency over immediate gross yield.