Jones County

Jones County puts up a gross rent-to-price ratio of 9.93%, which lands it squarely in cash-flow territory. At a median home price of $150,092 and median rent of $1,242, the county scores 99 out of 100 on cash flow and 98 on affordability. The modeled cap rate comes in at 6.45%, which is meaningfully above what most markets in the Southeast will offer at current interest rates. The cash-on-cash return at 0.7% is thin, which reflects the weight of a 6.85% mortgage rate on a 20% down payment structure, but the underlying yield on the asset itself is real. Appreciation is a different story: the score is 34 out of 100, and median home prices declined 3.25% year-over-year, so there is no tailwind from price growth baked into the thesis here. This is a yield market, not a growth market, and investors should underwrite it exactly that way.

The investor this market suits is a cash-flow buyer operating at scale in affordable secondary markets, or a value-add operator who can acquire below the median and push rents toward it. At $150,092 median entry, the capital required per door is low, which means a $300,000 deployment buys two properties rather than a fractional interest in one. The modeled $20 monthly cash flow after expenses and debt service is essentially breakeven at the median price point, so the real money is made by buying below median, reducing vacancy through tenant selection, or reducing acquisition costs through direct-to-seller deals. The affordability index of 98 out of 100 confirms that residents can afford to rent here, which supports occupancy, but the thin margin means every dollar of expense management matters. Appreciation buyers and BRRRR operators chasing forced equity in a rising market should look elsewhere: a 34 appreciation score and negative year-over-year price movement signal that this county does not reward speculation on price.

The combined monthly tax and insurance burden on a median-priced property runs approximately $164, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.81% and an insurance rate of 0.50%, producing roughly $101 in monthly taxes and $63 in monthly insurance. As always, the 0.81% figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual rates at the county or township level may differ, so pull the county assessor's numbers before closing. The tax rate itself is in the normal range and does not represent a structural headwind the way it would in Illinois or New Jersey, but at this price point and margin level, $164 per month is a material line item that deserves explicit underwriting rather than a rounding assumption. The stability score of 50 out of 100 suggests the market is neither a flight-to-safety hold nor a distress situation, which is consistent with a smaller Mississippi county that generates yield without attracting institutional capital or generating outsized volatility.

Comparing Jones County to its neighbors clarifies the trade-off an investor is making. Rankin County prices at $261,732 with a rent-to-price ratio of 7.95% and an overall score of 69, one point below Jones. An investor pays 74% more per door in Rankin for lower yield and marginally worse overall metrics. Lauderdale County is the one neighbor that actually outguns Jones on yield, with a rent-to-price ratio of 11.69% and a median price of $122,775, though its overall score of 72 is two points higher than Jones's 70. If pure yield maximization is the goal and the investor is comfortable with a smaller price basis, Lauderdale deserves a parallel look. Alcorn County at $166,945 and Monroe County at $160,564 both carry higher prices than Jones without published rent-to-price data available here, so a direct yield comparison cannot be made from this data set. Tate County at $238,526 is clearly a higher-price, lower-yield profile by median price alone. The case for Jones over most of its neighbors comes down to the combination of entry price and documented yield: 9.93% gross yield at $150,000 is a combination that is genuinely difficult to find in most of the country, and Jones sits at the 81st national percentile overall for that reason. Choose Jones if yield and affordability are the primary filters; move to Lauderdale if you want to push the yield even further and accept a lower price basis.