Mason County

Mason County sits at a median home price of $97,343, which is the defining feature of this market. That price level, combined with 13.02% year-over-year appreciation, tells the core story: you're getting meaningful price growth on an extremely low basis. The affordability index hits 100, the highest score in the dataset, and the county ranks 14th nationally out of 1,000 counties on overall investment potential, landing at the 98th percentile. What the data does not provide are rental income figures, cap rate, or cash-on-cash return, which is a significant gap. Without a rent estimate or operating income, there is no cash-flow number to underwrite here. That absence shapes everything about how this market should be evaluated.

Because cash-flow data is unavailable, this is not a market you underwrite as a yield play, at least not from the numbers provided. The appreciation score of 83 and the 13% price gain over the past year point toward a capital-gains-oriented thesis. At $97,343, the entry cost is low enough that even a modest rent, relative to price, could produce a workable gross yield, but you cannot confirm that from the data given. The investor best suited to Mason County is one who is comfortable buying on appreciation momentum and low basis, and who has done independent rent-comp research to fill the income gap this dataset leaves open. Value-add operators looking to buy distressed assets cheaply and hold for appreciation also fit the profile, given the affordability floor. A pure cash-flow buyer who needs the numbers to pencil before acquiring should not commit to this county based on what is available here.

No economic anchors, employer data, or economy notes are provided for Mason County, so the local job-market picture cannot be assessed from this dataset. With a population of 13,074, this is a small, rural Illinois county. Small population counts introduce concentration risk: the tenant pool is narrow, and any employer contraction or outmigration event has an outsized effect on vacancy relative to a larger metro. That is not an invented risk; it is a structural feature of any county this size.

The carry costs deserve serious attention. Illinois's state-average effective property tax rate is 2.27%, which the Tax Foundation flags as very high, and the data carries an explicit caveat that actual county and township rates in Illinois often deviate materially from the state average. At 2.27% on a $97,343 asset, the annual tax estimate comes to $2,210, and combined with $263 in annual insurance, you're looking at $206 per month in tax and insurance alone before you touch mortgage principal, interest, maintenance, management, or vacancy. On a purchase this size, $206 per month in tax and insurance is not a rounding error; it is a material drag that deserves its own line on your underwrite. Illinois property taxes are a known underwriting landmine statewide, and Mason County is not exempt from that risk. Verify the actual township rate before closing.

The neighboring county comparison puts Mason's positioning in sharper relief. The four closest Illinois comparables, Iroquois ($149,561), Bureau ($143,471), Edwards ($124,765), Peoria ($154,382), and Saint Clair ($173,515), all carry meaningfully higher median prices. Among neighbors where rent data is available, Peoria County shows a rent-to-price ratio of 9.1% and Saint Clair shows 8.4%, both on assets priced 59% to 78% higher than Mason. If Mason's rents are anywhere near those markets on an absolute basis, the implied gross yield on Mason's lower purchase price would be favorable. That is speculative without actual rent data for Mason, but it frames the upside case. Peoria County, with a 79 overall score, a larger tenant pool, and confirmed rent data, is the cleaner underwrite if income certainty is the priority. You choose Mason over its neighbors specifically when your thesis is lowest possible basis, maximum appreciation leverage on a small capital outlay, and you are willing to do the rent-comp legwork independently.