Moultrie County

Moultrie County sits at a median home price of $188,938 with a year-over-year price gain of 8.94%, which is the first thing that orients you in this market. The affordability index of 90 tells you prices remain accessible relative to income, and the appreciation score of 83 out of 100 confirms this is a market where price growth is doing real work. What the data does not provide is a completed cap rate or cash-on-cash figure, which means the cash flow score of 0 reflects missing rent data rather than confirmed negative returns. You cannot model carry costs with confidence until you have local rent comps in hand. What you can say is that an 8.94% price gain on a sub-$190,000 asset is a meaningful return on an equity basis, and the affordability runway suggests there is still room for prices to move without hitting a ceiling.

Given the appreciation score of 83 and the absent cash flow data, this market suits an appreciation-oriented buyer more clearly than a cash flow buyer at this stage. A buy-and-hold investor who can tolerate ambiguity on monthly income, who prices in the carry costs carefully, and who is buying into a market ranked in the 93rd percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties is making a bet on continued price appreciation in an affordable Illinois county. A value-add operator could also find a lane here: at a $188,938 median with 8.94% annual appreciation, forced equity through renovation can compound on top of organic gains. The profile this market does not suit is the investor who needs a known monthly cash flow surplus to service a portfolio. The cap rate field is empty, and without a rent figure, you are underwriting blind on income.

The taxInsurance data is the most actionable risk signal in this dataset, and it deserves a dedicated line on every underwrite. Illinois carries a state-average effective property tax rate of 2.27%, which is flagged as very high, and on a $188,938 purchase that translates to $4,289 in annual property taxes. Add $510 in annual insurance and you are looking at $400 per month in tax and insurance alone before you account for mortgage, maintenance, or vacancy. At a 6.85% interest rate on an 80% LTV loan, the mortgage payment on $151,150 is roughly $990 per month, putting your fixed monthly carry somewhere in the range of $1,390 before any operating expenses. This is not a market where you can underwrite loosely. The 2.27% rate is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and county or township rates in Moultrie specifically may differ, so pull the actual assessed rate before you close. The very_high flag on property taxes is the single biggest underwriting consideration in this dataset, and any rent estimate you use needs to clear that $400 monthly tax-and-insurance figure with meaningful margin.

The concentration risk here is real and demographic. A population of 14,531 puts Moultrie County in small-market territory, where tenant pools are thin, vacancy can spike on a single large employer layoff, and liquidity on exit is limited. No economic anchor data was provided, so no specific employers can be named, but a county of this size typically lacks the institutional employer base that insulates larger markets from demand shocks. The stability score of 50 is the quantitative confirmation of that exposure. This is not a market you put a large portion of a portfolio into; it is a market where you buy selectively, keep leverage manageable, and stay close to the asset.

The neighbor comparison clarifies where Moultrie fits. McDonough County shows a rent-to-price ratio of 0.1209, which is one of the cleaner cash flow signals in the dataset, and at a $92,986 median it is the most accessible entry point among the neighbors. If monthly income certainty is the priority, McDonough is the more legible bet. Winnebago County at $195,413 median and a 0.0744 rent-to-price ratio is closer to Moultrie in price but carries a defined rent figure of $1,211, giving you an actual income line to underwrite against. Shelby County at $156,256 is cheaper than Moultrie with the same overall score of 75, which raises the question of what the premium in Moultrie is buying. The answer, based on available data, is the 8.94% appreciation rate and the 83 appreciation score, neither of which has a clear equivalent in the neighbor data. Choose Moultrie over its neighbors when your thesis is price appreciation in an affordable Illinois market and you are prepared to do the rent discovery work yourself. Choose McDonough when you need cash flow clarity. Choose Winnebago when you want a known rent figure and can absorb the higher entry price.