Marion County

Marion County comes in at a $124,595 median home price with 6.88% year-over-year appreciation, a perfect affordability index score of 100, and an appreciation score of 92 out of 100. The dataset does not include a rent estimate or cap rate for this county, which means the cash-flow score registers zero and any yield math has to wait for a rent survey of the specific submarkets you're targeting. What the data does tell you clearly is that this market sits at the appreciation end of the spectrum: prices are rising at a pace that outperforms most comparably affordable counties, the entry point is low enough to limit downside, and the market ranked first nationally out of 1,000 counties on the overall scoring model. That combination of low price and accelerating appreciation is the core investment thesis here, not current yield.

The buyer this market suits is someone who can carry a property at break-even or a modest negative position while banking on continued price appreciation, and who is willing to wait for rent data before underwriting a specific deal. At $124,595 and 6.35% interest, the mortgage alone on an 80% LTV loan is manageable, but without a rent figure for Marion you cannot confirm whether gross rents cover PITI. A value-add operator could also find opportunity here: the affordability index at 100 and the low median price suggest a pool of workforce housing that may be undermanaged. If you can renovate and re-lease at market, the appreciation tailwind compounds on top of any forced equity. A pure cash-flow buyer who needs day-one yield documented before committing should look at Vermilion County first, where a rent-to-price ratio of 10.49% is already in the data.

Illinois carries a state-average effective property tax rate of 2.27%, flagged here as very high, and that deserves its own line on your underwrite. On a $124,595 purchase, that rate produces $2,828 in annual property taxes. Add $336 in estimated annual insurance and you are looking at $264 per month in combined tax and insurance carry before you account for mortgage, maintenance, or management. At a purchase price this low, $264 monthly is a meaningful percentage of any rent you might collect, potentially 25 to 30 cents of every dollar depending on local rents. The caveat in the data is worth repeating: the 2.27% is a state-average estimate from the Tax Foundation and county or township rates in Marion can differ materially. Pull the actual tax bill on any property before closing. Illinois property tax variability by jurisdiction is real, and the state-average is a floor, not a ceiling, for budgeting purposes.

The specific risk profile here centers on two things: population scale and market liquidity. At 37,543 residents, Marion County is a small market. Small markets can move quickly in either direction, and the 6.88% appreciation rate, while attractive, may reflect a thin transaction volume where a handful of sales reset the median. Concentration risk is real: if the local economy softens, you have fewer tenants to absorb vacancy, fewer buyers to exit to, and longer days-on-market when you need to sell. The stability score of 50 out of 100 is the data's own signal that this is not a low-variance hold. Pair that with Illinois's regulatory and tax environment, which is among the more landlord-challenging in the Midwest, and you need to underwrite for extended eviction timelines and the possibility that tax rates move higher, not lower, over your hold period.

Looking at the neighboring counties, Vermilion County at $93,309 median and a 10.49% rent-to-price ratio is the obvious cash-flow alternative in this peer group. If yield is your primary metric, Vermilion wins on the numbers available. Massac County at $112,844 and Marshall County at $131,595 both score 81 overall, slightly below Marion's 82, with no rent data provided. Richland County at $132,577 scores 80. Menard County at $198,736 scores 80 and is clearly positioned as a higher-price, presumably appreciation-oriented market. Marion makes the most sense over its neighbors when you want the highest appreciation score in the group (92), the best affordability (100), and the top national rank (1 of 1,000), and you are comfortable doing your own rent discovery on the ground. If you need a rent-to-price ratio already in the data before you'll move, Vermilion is where you start.