Burke County

Burke County, Georgia sits at a median home price of $182,441 with year-over-year appreciation of 11.7%, which is the dominant story here. The data does not include a cap rate or cash-on-cash return, and rent figures are absent from the county-level data, so a direct cash-flow underwrite cannot be completed from these numbers alone. What the data does confirm is a high affordability index of 91 out of 100 and an appreciation score of 76, placing Burke firmly on the appreciation end of the cash-flow versus appreciation spectrum. The 11.7% price growth in a county with a median below $183,000 is notable: buyers are getting price movement in an entry-level market, which is typically where appreciation exhausts itself first, but at a $182,441 purchase price the absolute dollar risk is contained.

The investor this market suits most is the appreciation buyer with a long time horizon and the patience to hold through periods where monthly cash flow may be thin or breakeven. At a $36,488 down payment (20%) and a 6.85% rate, the monthly mortgage principal and interest alone on the remaining $145,953 runs roughly $955. Add the combined monthly tax and insurance of $195 (discussed below), and your carry before maintenance, vacancy, or management is approximately $1,150. If rents in the area are in the range implied by the neighbor data, clearing meaningful positive cash flow will be a challenge rather than a given. A value-add operator could find opportunity here given the low price point, since forced appreciation through renovation in a market already moving at 11.7% annually can compound returns quickly, but they need to run a tight budget on the buy side and construction costs.

Burke County's affordability score of 91 and its rank of 5th in Georgia out of 159 counties, and 88th nationally out of 1,000, tell you this is a market that screens well relative to peers. The stability score of 50 is worth pausing on: it sits at the midpoint, which is neither a green light nor a red flag, but it does mean an investor should not assume consistent demand or rent growth without local due diligence. The population of 24,337 is small, and small-county markets can move quickly in both directions when a major employer shifts.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure of $195 is based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.92% and an insurance rate of 0.36%, generating roughly $1,678 in annual taxes and $657 in annual insurance. The 0.92% rate falls into the "normal" range and does not require special treatment in your underwrite, though the caveat matters: this is a state-average estimate, and actual county or township rates in Burke can differ. Pull the current millage rate from the Burke County Tax Commissioner before finalizing any proforma. At $195 per month, tax and insurance are not the problem here; the mortgage payment at 6.85% is where margin gets squeezed.

The primary risks for Burke are concentration and scale. A population of 24,337 means the rental demand pool is shallow. If the local economy softens or a key employer contracts, vacancy can spike with limited offset from population inflows. The stability score of 50 reinforces this concern. Regulatory and legislative risk data is not provided, so no specific flags can be identified there, but small Georgia counties have generally been landlord-friendly from a statutory standpoint. Demographic risk is real in smaller markets: thin population growth or net outmigration can stall the appreciation story that is otherwise driving the investment thesis here.

Compared to its neighbors, Burke competes closely at the top of a tight cluster. Decatur County scores highest among the group at 77 overall, two points above Burke's 73, and carries a lower median price of $171,230, which gives a Decatur buyer slightly more margin and a slightly better score. Lanier County matches Burke's overall score of 73 with a median price of $210,779 and a rent-to-price ratio of 9.8%, which is a materially better cash-flow signal than Burke's incomplete rent data suggests. If monthly cash flow is your primary goal, Lanier's rent-to-price ratio makes it the more attractive option with data to support it. Toombs at $169,068 and Cook at $157,160 both offer lower entry points but score below Burke (72 and 68 respectively), suggesting the discount comes with genuine quality trade-offs. Choose Burke over its neighbors when you believe the 11.7% appreciation trajectory continues, when you want a Georgia top-five ranking at a sub-$183,000 entry price, and when you are comfortable with a small market where rent data is harder to triangulate from county-level sources.