Jackson County

Jackson County, Kansas posts a median home price of $262,894 with year-over-year appreciation of 9.3%, an affordability index of 74, and an overall score of 70 that ranks it in the 81st percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties. The appreciation score of 82 is the standout number here. Cash-flow score, however, comes in at 0, and the investable metrics, cap rate and cash-on-cash return, are absent from the data, which is itself a signal worth sitting with. At a 6.85% prevailing interest rate and a $262,894 purchase price, the carry math is tight before you even layer in taxes and insurance. This market leans clearly toward the appreciation end of the spectrum rather than the cash-flow end, and any investor who walks in expecting immediate positive carry needs to stress-test that assumption hard.

The 9.3% home price appreciation is real and meaningful for a county of 13,274 people, and the 82 appreciation score confirms this is not a fluke. That said, a cash-flow score of 0 tells the honest story: this is not a market where rents cover costs comfortably at current prices. The affordability index of 74 suggests some room before prices outpace local buyer capacity, which supports further price gains, but it also implies that rent levels, typically anchored to local wages, may not be stretching fast enough to offset financing costs at 6.85%. The investor this market suits is a buy-and-hold appreciation buyer who can absorb neutral or slightly negative monthly cash flow in exchange for equity accumulation, or an owner-occupant investor who plans to put 25-30% down to compress the mortgage enough to approach break-even. Value-add operators looking for forced equity through renovation could find opportunity if they source below median, but the small population limits the buyer pool on exit.

No economic anchor data was provided for Jackson County, so employer-specific demand drivers cannot be assessed here. What the population figure of 13,274 does tell you is that this is a thin market. Thin markets can produce outsized price gains when supply is constrained, which the 9.3% YoY move suggests, but they also produce outsized volatility when demand softens. Tenant demand in a county this size can shift materially from a single employer adding or cutting shifts. Stability scores at 50, exactly the midpoint, which is consistent with that dynamic.

Monthly taxes and insurance total $436 based on Kansas's state-average effective property tax rate of 1.41% and an insurance rate of 0.58%, yielding annual property tax of $3,707 and annual insurance of $1,525. The 1.41% rate carries a "normal" flag, meaning it does not rise to the level of a cash-flow killer, but on a $262,894 asset it is not trivial either. That $436 monthly figure deserves its own line on your underwrite before you ever get to vacancy, maintenance, or management. The note on file is worth repeating: 1.41% is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024, and actual county and township rates in Jackson County may differ, so pull the county assessor's current levy before closing.

The primary risk here is concentration. A population of 13,274 means a single adverse economic event, a plant closure, a base realignment, a school consolidation, can move vacancy and rents in ways that larger markets absorb without flinching. The stability score of 50 flags this explicitly. There is no vacancy or regulatory data in the provided set, so this analysis stops there rather than speculate.

Against its neighbors, Jackson County occupies a specific niche. Barton County at $119,265 median and a 0.083 rent-to-price ratio and Cowley County at $120,283 are clearly the cash-flow plays in this peer group, with entry prices low enough that even modest rents generate serviceable yields. Geary County at $212,411 and a rent-to-price ratio of 0.071 offers a middle path, lower entry than Jackson with measurable rent data already on the table. Pottawatomie County at $311,680 is the highest-priced neighbor and edges Jackson on overall score at 71 versus 70. Ellis County at $241,353 sits below Jackson on price with the same overall score of 72. An investor should choose Jackson County over its neighbors specifically when the thesis is price appreciation in a supply-constrained small market and when the holding period is long enough, five to ten years, to let that 9.3% annual price momentum compound. If the thesis is cash-flow from day one, Barton or Cowley are the rational alternatives at less than half Jackson's median price.