Hinds County

Hinds County posts a rent-to-price ratio of 11.86%, which puts it squarely in cash-flow territory, not appreciation territory. At a $130,045 median purchase price and $1,285.60 median rent, the gross yield alone is enough to clear most investors' minimum hurdle before you've even stress-tested expenses. The modeled cap rate comes in at 7.71%, cash-on-cash at 6.18% on a 20% down payment at 6.85%, and estimated monthly cash flow at $154 after a $682 mortgage payment and $450 in estimated expenses. Year-over-year home price growth is 1.75%, which is real but modest, well below what you'd need to underwrite an appreciation thesis. This is not a market where you're banking on exit price; you're banking on rent checks.

That math makes Hinds a fit for the yield-focused buyer who wants a low entry point and immediate income rather than a five-year hold waiting for price discovery. The affordability index sits at 100 out of 100 and the county ranks 13th nationally out of 1,000 counties on overall score, landing in the 98th percentile. The cash-flow score is a perfect 100. If your acquisition model requires a sub-7% cap rate to pencil, you are leaving money on the table here. The appreciation score of 68 and stability score of 50 are the honest counterweights: this is not where you deploy capital if you need price growth to fund your next deal or if your underwrite breaks below 90% occupancy. The value-add operator who can buy distressed assets below the $130,045 median, stabilize them, and capture the rent will find the widest margin, since the gross yield math only improves as purchase price drops below median.

The tax and insurance picture is neutral rather than a tailwind or headwind. At Mississippi's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.81%, annual taxes on a median-priced asset run approximately $1,053. Combined with an estimated $650 in annual insurance, the monthly tax-and-insurance carry is $142. That figure is already baked into the $450 estimated expense line, but it's worth isolating: at 0.81% the rate is neither a penalty nor a gift, and it won't distort your underwrite the way a 1.5%+ rate would. The standard caveat applies: this is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024, and your actual Hinds County township rate may differ, so pull the parcel-level bill before you close.

The stability score of 50 is the number that demands attention. It signals concentration or demographic risk that the cash-flow numbers alone don't capture. A market posting near-12% gross yields at population scale (226,541 residents) and ranking first in Mississippi does not do so because the underlying economy is frictionless. Investors should stress-test occupancy assumptions carefully, because the yield premium you're earning relative to higher-stability markets is at least partly compensation for that risk. There is no vacancy or crime data in this dataset, so no specific figure can be cited, but the stability score is the model's way of flagging that this market rewards careful tenant screening and conservative occupancy assumptions in your proforma.

Compared to the neighboring counties in this dataset, Hinds is the clear yield leader. Lee County is the closest comparator with available rent data: median price of $196,256, median rent of $1,270.32, and a rent-to-price ratio of 7.77%, versus Hinds' 11.86%. Lee scores a 75 overall versus Hinds' 79, and you're paying $66,000 more per unit for a lower yield and a comparable rent. Scott County at $123,939 and Holmes County at $84,259 both score 76 overall, suggesting they offer some yield but lack the depth of rental demand or economic infrastructure that pushes Hinds to the top of the state rankings. Monroe and Pontotoc counties, both at 73 overall and with median prices of $160,564 and $214,343 respectively, look like appreciation-tilt markets by comparison, without the rent-to-price ratios to justify the higher entry cost on a cash-flow basis. You choose Hinds over its neighbors when the mandate is maximizing current yield at the lowest possible entry price, you have the operational discipline to manage a lower-stability market, and you're not dependent on price appreciation to make the deal work.