Logan County

Logan County sits at a median home price of $145,036 with 6.97% year-over-year appreciation, an affordability index of 99, and an appreciation score of 92 out of 100. Those numbers tell a clear story: this is an appreciation-driven market, not a cash-flow market. The data provides no cap rate, no estimated monthly cash flow, and no rent figures, which itself signals that rental income modeling here is thin at best. What the county does offer is an entry price well below $150,000 in a market that has been moving upward at nearly 7% annually, paired with a median household income of $70,382 that keeps the local buyer pool financially capable of sustaining demand. The price-to-income ratio implied by those two figures is roughly 2.06x, an unusually affordable level that historically supports continued price stability even if growth slows.

The investor this market suits is an appreciation buyer with a long time horizon and the patience to hold through the illiquidity that comes with a population of 2,752 people. At that population size, the rental pool is thin by definition. A cash-flow buyer looking to stack units and run vacancy-adjusted yield models will find the absence of rent data in this county telling: there simply may not be enough rental transaction volume to underwrite with confidence. A value-add operator faces the same constraint: forced appreciation through renovation works when there is a buyer or renter market deep enough to absorb the improved product. Logan County's size makes that assumption fragile. The appreciation score of 92 and a national ranking of 4th out of 1,000 counties are legitimately striking figures, but they reward the investor who can absorb the risk of a thinly traded asset in a micro-market, not the one who needs predictable monthly income.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Logan County, so the drivers behind the 6.97% appreciation rate and the $70,382 median income are not attributable to specific employers here. What the income figure does suggest is that the local economy is producing wages above what you would expect for a rural county of this size, which at minimum implies some stability in purchasing power supporting home values. Whether that income is concentrated in agriculture, government, healthcare, or a single large employer is a material question that the data does not answer and that any serious buyer should resolve before committing capital.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate comes to $241, built from a state-average property tax rate of 1.41% ($2,045 annually) and an insurance rate of 0.58% ($841 annually). The 1.41% rate is flagged as normal relative to Kansas norms, so it does not distort the underwrite in either direction. That said, the standard caveat applies: this is a state-average effective rate sourced from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county and township assessments in Logan County may differ materially. Pull the county assessor's current mill levy before finalizing your numbers. At a $145,036 purchase price, the $241 monthly T&I is a meaningful fixed cost relative to any rent you could plausibly collect in a county this small, reinforcing the point that cash-flow underwriting here is difficult to close positively.

The concentrated risk in Logan County is demographic and liquidity-based. A population of 2,752 means that any single employer contraction, school closure, or outmigration event could shift home values and rental demand faster than a diversified metro market would absorb the same shock. There is no vacancy or crime data provided, so no further risk layering is possible from this dataset, but the size alone warrants a conservative vacancy assumption and a clear exit strategy that does not depend on finding a buyer quickly.

Compared to the neighboring counties provided, Logan County's case is interesting but not obviously superior for a rental investor. Montgomery County, the only neighbor with rent data, shows a $101,405 median price, a rent-to-price ratio of 1.02%, and an overall score of 84, one point above Logan's 81. For a cash-flow buyer, Montgomery's ratio is the only hard rental yield figure available across this peer group and would deserve serious attention over Logan. Pawnee County comes in at $107,014 and an overall score of 82, offering a lower entry point than Logan with a comparable overall rating. Doniphan and Sherman counties are priced similarly to Logan at $158,045 and $146,739 respectively, but score lower at 78 each. Choose Logan over these neighbors specifically if your thesis is price appreciation on a low-dollar-basis entry, your hold period is five or more years, and you are not dependent on rental income to service the debt. If you need yield to make the deal work, Montgomery County's published rent data makes it the more underwritable option from what this dataset provides.