De Soto Parish

De Soto Parish sits at a median home price of $198,992 with year-over-year appreciation of 6.18%, landing it in the 96th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties ranked, and second in Louisiana out of 64. That's a meaningful signal about where price momentum is concentrated. The affordability index of 87 suggests homes remain accessible relative to income, which tends to sustain buyer demand and put a floor under prices. The dataset does not include rent or cap rate figures for this parish, so no gross yield or cash-on-cash return can be calculated from the provided data. What that absence tells you practically is that this is a market you underwrite with caution on the income side until you verify local rents through direct market research. Based on the appreciation score of 90 against a cash flow score of 0, De Soto sits firmly on the appreciation end of the spectrum. This is not a gross-yield-first market on the evidence available.

That profile defines who belongs here and who doesn't. An appreciation buyer or a long-hold equity accumulator has a real case: 6.18% annual price growth on a sub-$200,000 asset is a compelling return on equity if leverage is modest and you're patient. An affordability index of 87 means you're not buying at the peak of a stretched market, so entry risk is lower than in parishes where prices have outrun incomes. A cash-flow buyer, however, cannot build a pro forma here without rent comps from the ground, and the overall score of 77, weighted against a cash flow score of 0, tells you the tool itself isn't underwriting income. If your business model requires day-one positive cash flow, this market needs more due diligence before you commit, not less.

On the carry cost side, the tax and insurance picture is actually a tailwind. Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate for this market is estimated at 0.55%, which the data flags as low, and that translates to roughly $1,094 annually on a $198,992 purchase. Insurance runs an estimated $1,313 per year, for a combined monthly tax-and-insurance burden of approximately $201. That's meaningfully below what you'd face in high-tax states on a comparable asset, and it provides some cushion on the expense side of your underwrite. One honest caveat: this rate is a state-average estimate based on Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual De Soto Parish or township-level rates may differ, so pull the parish assessor's figures before you finalize any underwrite. The insurance figure, while modest relative to many markets, is worth watching given Louisiana's coastal storm exposure even in the northern parishes.

The data does not include economic anchor or employer information for De Soto Parish, so no claims about specific employers or industry concentration can be made here. What the population figure of 26,821 does tell you is that this is a small market. Small-market concentration risk is real: a single employer departure, a demographic shift, or a sustained period of outmigration can move vacancy rates quickly, and in a county this size there is no deep pool of alternative renters to absorb a shock. A stability score of 50 reflects exactly that, sitting at the midpoint and suggesting neither the cyclical resilience of a large metro nor outright fragility. Investors who carry vacancy assumptions of 8 to 10 percent in larger markets should consider widening that to 10 to 12 percent here until they have boots-on-the-ground data on absorption rates.

Against its neighbors, De Soto Parish scores higher than all five listed comparables. Assumption Parish (74 overall, $171,822 median), Caldwell Parish (73 overall, $127,430), Calcasieu Parish (70 overall, $193,360), Sabine Parish (70 overall, $186,542), and Iberia Parish (69 overall, $134,124) all trail De Soto's 77. Notably, Iberia Parish offers a rent-to-price ratio of 10.63%, which is the highest ratio in the neighbor set by a wide margin, making it the cash-flow candidate for an investor who needs verifiable yield today. Calcasieu Parish shows a rent-to-price ratio of 6.59% on a $193,360 median, meaning you're buying slightly cheaper with a calculable income stream. If your mandate is yield certainty, either of those two neighbors gives you numbers to underwrite against that De Soto currently cannot. De Soto earns the allocation when your thesis is price appreciation, when you want a lower entry point than what a comparable appreciation market in a larger metro would demand, and when you're willing to do the local rent research the available data cannot do for you.