Cheyenne County

Cheyenne County sits at $164,247 median home price with a cash flow score of 0 and a cap rate the model could not calculate, which tells you something immediately: the rental income data here is thin enough that the tool cannot produce a reliable price-to-rent ratio or cash-on-cash figure. What the data does confirm is that appreciation is essentially flat, with a year-over-year price change of negative 0.36%. This is not an appreciation play and, without a calculable cap rate, it cannot be confirmed as a cash flow play either. The affordability index of 83 is the standout number, meaning homes here are meaningfully cheaper relative to income than the national baseline, and at $164,247 the entry price is low in absolute terms. That affordability could support investor economics if rents hold, but the model's inability to produce a cash flow estimate is a yellow flag that deserves additional ground-level rent research before committing capital.

The investor profile this market might suit is a deep-value buyer who can source off-market deals well below that $164,247 median, verify local rents directly with property managers, and absorb some operational risk in a thin market. With a population of 2,619, Cheyenne County is micro-scale. Tenant pools are limited, vacancy events hit harder when you have one or two units rather than a portfolio that can absorb them, and resale liquidity is constrained. An appreciation buyer has no case here given the flat-to-negative price trend. A value-add operator faces the same liquidity problem on exit. If this market works for anyone, it is the investor already operating in western Kansas who understands local rent levels firsthand and is buying at a price low enough to make the economics work without relying on the model's estimates.

No economic anchor data was provided for Cheyenne County, so employer base and job stability cannot be assessed from this dataset. That absence is itself meaningful for underwriting: in a county of 2,619 people, understanding whether the local economy is anchored by agriculture, a regional employer, or government payroll is essential context that an investor needs to obtain independently before closing.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate comes to $272, based on Kansas's state-average effective property tax rate of 1.41% and an insurance rate of 0.58%. The 1.41% rate is flagged as normal, so it does not represent a meaningful drag relative to other Kansas counties, but at a $164,247 purchase price it still adds up to $2,316 annually in property tax and $953 in insurance before you account for mortgage, maintenance, or management. With a mortgage rate of 6.85% and a $32,849 down payment on a 20% conventional structure, the financed balance alone carries a material monthly payment. The honest underwrite here requires sourcing actual rents from local property managers, because those numbers determine whether the $272 monthly tax-and-insurance line is manageable or fatal to the deal. The 1.41% figure is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Cheyenne may differ.

The primary risk in Cheyenne County is concentration, not in the portfolio sense but in the market itself. A 2,619-person county with flat home prices and an unknown rental market is highly sensitive to any single employer departure, demographic shift, or agricultural downturn. The county ranks 75th out of 105 Kansas counties and sits at the 49th national percentile out of the top 1,000 markets tracked, which means half the counties in the dataset score higher. There is no data here to invent vacancy rates or crime statistics, but the population size alone means that a single tenant departure in a small portfolio can move your effective vacancy rate dramatically.

Comparing Cheyenne to its listed neighbors, Sedgwick County stands out with a rent-to-price ratio of 6.56% and a median home price of $215,377, which is a higher entry cost but a calculable, better-documented cash flow case with an overall score of 61 versus Cheyenne's 59. Johnson County shows a rent-to-price ratio of only 4.57% at a $438,419 median, making it primarily an appreciation market that is harder to cash flow. Bourbon County comes in at $125,434 median with the same overall score of 59 as Cheyenne, so it is cheaper in absolute terms but offers no demonstrated advantage on the scoring dimensions available. Ford County at $204,156 and Sumner County at $140,857 lack rent data in this dataset. An investor should choose Cheyenne over its neighbors only if they have a specific, verified deal at a price point meaningfully below the $164,247 median and confirmed rent numbers that produce an acceptable cap rate. Otherwise, Sedgwick County offers the same risk-adjusted score with a documented 6.56% gross yield in a larger, more liquid market.