Lyon County

Lyon County sits at a median home price of $227,567, up 8.17% year-over-year, with an affordability index of 81. The county ranks 88th out of 1,000 nationally, placing it in the 89th percentile, and 19th out of 87 Minnesota counties. Those headline numbers tell a clear story: this is a market tilting toward appreciation rather than cash flow. The cash flow score registers at zero, while the appreciation score hits 85. That gap is the most important thing to understand before underwriting any deal here. Without cap rate or rent-to-price data in the provided figures, precise cash-on-cash math isn't possible from this data set, but the score distribution alone signals that buyers chasing monthly surplus will need to look hard to find it at current prices.

Given the appreciation score of 85 and year-over-year price growth of 8.17%, Lyon County is most naturally suited to a buy-and-hold appreciation buyer who is comfortable with thin or break-even cash flow in the near term. The affordability index of 81 does offer some cushion, meaning prices have not yet reached the point where tenant demand collapses, but it also reflects that rents are unlikely to dramatically outpace ownership costs from day one. A value-add operator could potentially find an angle here if distressed assets are available below that $227,567 median, since the broader price trajectory gives an exit. A pure cash-flow buyer, however, should be skeptical: a zero cash flow score is a direct signal, not a soft caution, and nothing in this data suggests the yield profile changes materially without significant basis reduction.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Lyon County, so specific commentary on job concentrations or institutional demand drivers would be speculative and is omitted here. What the stability score of 50 does communicate is that this market sits at the midpoint on resilience, neither a highly diversified metro nor a single-employer town with obvious concentration risk. For a county of 25,352 people, that stability figure warrants attention. Small-population markets at this price tier can see outsized swings in absorption when even a modest employer contracts or a demographic cohort exits, and a stability score at the median should prompt a buyer to do ground-level diligence on the local employment base before committing.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $281, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 1.13% and an insurance rate of 0.35%. That is a meaningful line item at a $227,567 purchase price, and it should appear clearly in any underwrite alongside mortgage service. The 1.13% tax rate carries a "normal" flag, which means it is neither a tailwind nor a burden relative to state norms, but it is worth noting that this figure is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Lyon may differ. Confirm the specific parcel-level tax before closing. At 6.85% on a conventional mortgage with 20% down ($45,513), the debt service alone on $182,054 financed principal runs material, and stacking the $281 monthly tax-insurance load on top of that leaves very little room for positive cash flow at market rents unless acquisition is below the median.

The neighboring counties provide useful relative context. Rock County carries a higher median of $260,804 with an overall score of 74, making Lyon the cheaper entry point for a nearly equivalent score profile. Stevens County at $204,884 and Swift County at $188,268 both score 72-73 overall and offer lower price points, which in a thin-cash-flow environment matters. Saint Louis County, the only neighbor with rent data available, shows a median rent of $1,574.57 against a median home price of $241,512, producing a rent-to-price ratio of 0.078, which is a meaningful cash flow marker. Lyon lacks equivalent rent data in the provided figures, but if an investor's primary goal is yield, Saint Louis County's disclosed 0.078 rent-to-price ratio gives it a concrete advantage over Lyon on that dimension. The case for choosing Lyon over its neighbors is essentially the appreciation thesis: an 8.17% annual price gain combined with an 85 appreciation score and an 89th-percentile national ranking suggests Lyon has been outperforming the region on price momentum. If that trajectory continues, Lyon rewards patient capital more than its lower-priced neighbors. If the appreciation thesis softens, Lyon's zero cash flow score offers no cushion, and a buyer would have been better positioned in Swift or Stevens County where basis risk is lower.