Wayne County

Wayne County, Mississippi sits at a median home price of $156,909 with a 13.63% year-over-year price gain, which is the headline number that defines everything about this market. The affordability index of 96 and a national percentile rank of 96th out of 1,000 counties tell you this is an exceptionally affordable market that has been moving fast. The data provided does not include a cap rate or cash-on-cash figure, so underwriting precision requires you to source local rents independently before committing. What the price appreciation alone signals is a market trending toward the appreciation end of the spectrum rather than the pure cash-flow end, though the entry price is low enough that deals with acceptable yield are achievable if rents in the area support it.

The scores clarify the positioning: appreciation scores 82 out of 100, affordability scores 96, but cash flow scores 0 and stability scores 50. That combination tells a specific story. This is not a county you buy because it prints monthly income on day one with certainty. It is a county you buy because the entry price is cheap enough that even modest rent relative to purchase price can work, and the 13.63% annual price appreciation creates equity fast enough to matter. A value-add operator who can acquire distressed assets well below that $156,909 median, force appreciation through renovation, and either refinance or sell into a rising price environment will find the math compelling. A pure cash-flow buyer needs to run actual local rent comps before assuming the numbers work, since the data here does not provide a rent figure for Wayne County itself. An appreciation buyer already has a 13.63% YoY tailwind and an 82 appreciation score to point to.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $171, based on a 0.81% state-average effective property tax rate and a 0.50% insurance rate. That note is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates may differ, so verify at the assessor level before finalizing your proforma. The "normal" flag on the tax rate means it is not a meaningful headwind or tailwind relative to other Mississippi markets. At $171 per month combined, the carrying cost for taxes and insurance is modest given the price point, which helps preserve margin in a market where you are still confirming the rent side of the equation.

The data does not include economic anchor employers for Wayne County, so no assessment of job base concentration or employer-driven rental demand can be made from what is provided. With a population of 19,760, this is a small county, and small-county markets carry inherent concentration risk regardless of the investment story. A single employer exit or a regional economic shift can materially affect vacancy and rent levels in a market of this size. The stability score of 50 reflects exactly that dynamic: not a red flag by itself, but a reason to stress-test your vacancy assumptions and avoid over-leveraging on a portfolio of Wayne County units.

Looking at the neighboring counties, Wayne's $156,909 median is in the middle of the peer group. Scott County at $123,939 and Hinds County at $125,430 are cheaper entry points, but Hinds is the comparison that carries the most analytical weight because it comes with rent data: a median rent of $1,343 against a median price of $125,430 gives Hinds a rent-to-price ratio of 1.29%, which is a genuinely attractive cash-flow signal. Holmes County at $84,259 is the cheapest by a wide margin, but without rent data, and with an overall score of 76 matching Wayne's 77, the discount likely reflects risk rather than opportunity. Lee County at $196,256 and a rent-to-price ratio of only 0.78% is the appreciation-oriented play in the peer group, but it costs more and yields less on rent relative to price than Hinds. Monroe County at $160,564 has no rent data provided.

The case for choosing Wayne over its neighbors comes down to the appreciation story. At 13.63% YoY price growth and a 96th-percentile national rank, Wayne is outperforming this peer group on price momentum. If you are a buy-and-hold investor who expects to refinance in three to five years and values equity accumulation, Wayne's trajectory justifies the slightly higher entry cost over Scott or Hinds. If you need rent-verified cash flow from day one, Hinds County's 1.29% rent-to-price ratio makes it the stronger choice on current data. The honest answer is that Wayne's investment case depends heavily on local rent levels that are not in this dataset, and any investor who skips that verification step is underwriting blind.