Jasper County

Jasper County sits at a median home price of $167,759, up 13.19% year-over-year, with an affordability index of 94 out of 100. That price appreciation is the headline number here. The data does not include a cap rate or cash-on-cash return, which itself tells you something: this is not a market where the rent-to-price math is the draw. What pulls Jasper into the top 5% nationally (40th out of 1,000 counties, 95th percentile) is a combination of affordability and appreciation momentum, not current income. An investor expecting this county to pencil on day-one cash flow should look elsewhere. One who is buying into price growth at a still-accessible basis has a more credible thesis here.

The scores confirm that read. Jasper scores 83 on appreciation and 94 on affordability, but 0 on cash flow. A 13.19% annual price gain on a $167,759 median means the market added roughly $22,100 in median value over the past year. For an appreciation buyer with a 20% down payment ($33,552), that is a paper return approaching 66% on invested equity in twelve months if the trend holds, though a single-year gain rarely repeats at the same pace and should not be underwritten as a baseline. The stability score of 50 is the counterweight: this is a small county of 9,295 people, and thin markets can move sharply in both directions. Value-add operators who can manufacture equity through renovation may find the price point attractive as an entry, but they need to model exit liquidity carefully given the population size.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Jasper County, so rental demand drivers cannot be assessed from this data set. That gap is itself an underwriting flag: in a county of under 10,000 residents, understanding what keeps renters employed and in place is critical work that requires local sourcing beyond what this dataset supplies.

The carry costs deserve serious attention. Illinois's state-average effective property tax rate is 2.27%, flagged here as very high, and it is the single largest underwriting risk in this market. At that rate, annual property taxes on the $167,759 median come to $3,808, and combined with estimated annual insurance of $453, the monthly tax and insurance burden alone is $355. On a leveraged acquisition with a $33,552 down payment and a 6.85% interest rate, that $355 monthly cost is a real drag before mortgage principal, maintenance, management, or vacancy are even considered. The state-average rate is an estimate based on Tax Foundation 2024 data, and the actual county or township rate in Jasper may differ materially, so pulling the county assessor's current millage rate before closing is not optional. Illinois's property tax structure has historically been unfavorable to landlords, and that 2.27% state average has held investors back in otherwise affordable Illinois markets for years.

The concentration risk is straightforward: a county of 9,295 people has a narrow tenant pool. Any single employer contraction, outmigration trend, or regional economic shift can move vacancy rates in ways that are nearly invisible in aggregate data until they hit your specific property. There is no vacancy or crime data provided here, but the population figure alone warrants conservative vacancy assumptions in any underwrite, likely higher than what a larger metro market would require.

Comparing Jasper to its neighbors clarifies the positioning. McDonough County offers a much lower median of $92,986 and a rent-to-price ratio of 12.1%, which is a materially better cash-flow profile and the same overall score of 76. If current income is the priority, McDonough is the more straightforward choice. Sangamon County at $186,233 median carries a rent-to-price ratio of 7.3% and a larger population base that implies more tenant depth and economic diversification, likely anchored by state government employment in Springfield. Clinton County at $212,337 is the priciest neighbor without rent data provided. Shelby County at $156,256 is cheaper than Jasper but scores 75 overall. The case for Jasper specifically is the combination of 13.19% recent appreciation and a sub-$170,000 median that still allows an investor to get in at a lower absolute dollar basis than Sangamon while betting on price momentum. That is a narrower and more speculative thesis than either Sangamon's stability or McDonough's cash flow, and it requires conviction that Jasper's appreciation rate reflects something durable rather than a short-cycle anomaly in a thinly traded market.