Rock County

Rock County scores an 89 on appreciation and sits in the 86th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties, yet its cash-flow score is 0 and the cap rate field comes back empty. That combination tells you almost everything you need to know about where this market sits on the spectrum: it is firmly in appreciation territory, not a yield play. The median home price of $275,490 grew 5.91% year-over-year, which is meaningful price momentum for a county of fewer than 10,000 people. The affordability index of 71 suggests buyers are not priced out yet, which keeps demand accessible, but without a published rent estimate or gross yield figure in the data, any cash-flow underwrite here requires you to source local rent comps yourself before committing capital.

This market suits an appreciation-oriented buyer who is comfortable accepting thin or negative near-term cash flow in exchange for price growth. The 5.91% YoY appreciation on a $275,490 median translates to roughly $16,300 in equity gain per year on an average-priced asset, assuming that rate holds. That is not nothing, especially on a $55,098 down payment at 6.85%. A cash-flow buyer, however, has no quantitative case to make here based on the data provided: with a 0 cash-flow score and no published rent-to-price ratio, the numbers do not support underwriting this as a yield investment without doing significant legwork on local rents. A value-add operator might find opportunity if below-median properties can be repositioned, but the small population of 9,659 means the tenant pool is limited and absorption risk on renovated units is real.

No economic anchor data was provided for Rock County, so no employer or industry context can be responsibly cited. What the population figure does signal is that this is a rural, thinly traded market. Thin markets can produce strong appreciation numbers, but they can also reverse sharply on limited transaction volume. A county this size may have only a few hundred home sales per year, meaning the median price can be moved materially by a handful of high-end transactions. Treat the 5.91% appreciation figure with that caveat in mind when projecting forward.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate lands at $340, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 1.13% on the $275,490 purchase price, which produces an annual tax bill of $3,113, plus $964 in annual insurance. That $340 monthly figure is material in a market where gross rent is unknown but almost certainly constrained by the rural population base. The 1.13% tax rate is flagged as normal, so it is not a red flag, but the note from Tax Foundation 2024 applies here: this is a state-average estimate and your actual county or township rate may differ. Pull the Rock County assessor data before closing to confirm. At a 6.85% interest rate on a $220,392 loan, even a modest variance in the actual tax rate can shift a marginal deal from neutral to negative.

The primary risk here is concentration in a single small market. With a population of 9,659 and no diversified employer base identified in the data, any localized economic disruption, whether a major local employer downsizes or agricultural conditions shift, has outsized impact on rental demand. There is no vacancy rate or crime data in the provided dataset, so those dimensions cannot be assessed here. What can be said is that small rural Minnesota counties generally carry meaningful demographic risk from outmigration, particularly among working-age adults, which directly compresses rental demand over time. The stability score of 50 is the lowest subscale score in this profile and is the honest representation of that uncertainty.

Compared to the five neighboring counties in the dataset, Rock County commands the highest median home price at $275,490. Stevens County at $204,884, Swift County at $188,268, and Lake of the Woods County at $209,243 all offer lower entry points with identical or slightly better overall scores of 72 or 73. Saint Louis County, with a published rent-to-price ratio of 0.0782 and a median rent of $1,574.57, is the only neighbor with actual yield data, and that ratio is meaningfully better than what Rock's price level would imply if rents were similarly scaled. If yield is your primary objective, Saint Louis County has a quantifiable rent story and a comparable overall score of 73. Choose Rock County over its neighbors only if you are specifically underwriting appreciation-driven equity accumulation and can hold through volatility in a thinly traded rural market.