Ouachita County

Ouachita County sits at a median home price of $102,699 with 3.2% year-over-year appreciation, landing it at the 96th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties ranked, and first in Arkansas out of 74. The affordability index is a perfect 100, the highest possible, which signals that entry costs are exceptionally low relative to income. The appreciation score of 81 is notably high for a county at this price point. Cap rate and cash-on-cash return fields are not populated in the underlying data, so precise yield figures cannot be stated here, but the combination of sub-$103K purchase prices and Arkansas's generally low cost structure places this county firmly on the appreciation and affordability end of the spectrum rather than the yield-compression end you see in gateway markets.

The investor this market suits most directly is a low-capital buyer who wants to accumulate units without deploying large down payments. A 20% down payment on the median asset is roughly $20,500, which is a meaningful threshold: it means an investor with $100K of equity capital could theoretically control five properties in this county before running out of dry powder. The appreciation score of 81 out of 100 also makes a case for the patient buy-and-hold operator who is comfortable with a smaller population base and is betting on continued price trajectory. A pure cash-flow buyer would want to verify actual achievable rents before underwriting, since the cash flow score is listed as zero, not a figure to ignore. A value-add operator could find opportunity here given the low basis, but would need to diligence the local rental demand independently, as rent figures are not provided for this county in the dataset.

The carry cost picture is one of the better ones available in this region. At Arkansas's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.62%, annual taxes on the median asset run approximately $637, and insurance adds another $493 annually, for a combined monthly tax-and-insurance burden of $94. That is a meaningful tailwind on the cash-flow side; at $94 per month, the fixed non-debt carry cost is low enough that a modestly priced rental can cover it without needing top-of-market rents. The 0.62% rate carries the honest caveat that it is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Ouachita may differ, so pull the county assessor's figures before finalizing your underwrite. At the low flag, though, this is not a number that should give investors pause.

The primary risk here is scale and concentration. A population of 22,606 is small, and small markets can experience disproportionate demand swings when a single employer reduces headcount or when demographic outmigration accelerates. The stability score of 50 out of 100 reflects exactly this dynamic: not catastrophically unstable, but not a market with deep demand cushioning either. No economic anchor data was provided in the dataset, so no employer commentary can be made with confidence. Investors should independently research the county's top employers and assess how exposed rental demand is to a single industry or institution. Regulatory risk is not flagged in the data. Demographic concentration in a county of this size means that the thesis needs to be stress-tested against what happens to rents and occupancy if the local population continues any secular decline.

Against its Arkansas neighbors, Ouachita's case is straightforward on price. Prairie County comes in at $149,082 with an overall score of 74, Grant County at $206,491 also scoring 74, Scott County at $152,008 scoring 73, and Perry County at $182,366 scoring 71. Ouachita's $102,699 median is 31% to 50% below each of those neighbors while posting a higher overall score of 77 across the board. The one neighbor worth a close look is Jefferson County at $84,271 with a rent-to-price ratio of 12.6% and an overall score of 71. Jefferson's yield profile is materially better for a cash-flow-first buyer, and at a lower price point, but its score of 71 trails Ouachita's 77. An investor who prioritizes appreciation trajectory and affordability-driven entry over immediate yield should prefer Ouachita. An investor building a yield-maximizing portfolio and willing to accept Jefferson's lower overall score should run a side-by-side underwrite on both, because Jefferson's 12.6% rent-to-price ratio is a real number that Ouachita's dataset cannot currently match with disclosed rent data.