Webster County

Webster County, Mississippi comes in at a median home price of $158,949, down 5.05% year-over-year, with an affordability index of 96 out of 100. That combination tells you prices are accessible and softening, which is useful context, but the investment picture has real gaps: the cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and estimated cash flow all come back as zero in the underlying model, meaning the tool cannot confirm this market pencils on a yield basis at current price and rent levels. The overall score is 50 out of 100, the cash-flow score is 0, and the appreciation score is just 15. Nationally, Webster ranks 600th out of 1,000 counties analyzed, landing at the 23rd percentile, and it sits 46th out of 80 Mississippi counties. None of those numbers signal a market with clear cash-flow or appreciation tailwinds.

Given those scores, Webster does not fit cleanly into any of the three standard investor profiles. A cash-flow buyer needs a positive spread, and the model produces none here. An appreciation buyer looks for price momentum, and a 5% year-over-year price decline is the opposite of that. A value-add operator who can force equity through renovation might find the $158,949 median entry point workable, but only if they can establish rents that exceed what the current market is implying. The affordability score of 96 does confirm the county is among the least expensive to buy into anywhere in the state, which lowers the dollar threshold for experimentation, but low entry price is not the same as a viable return. An investor considering Webster should treat it as a speculative or opportunistic position, not a core portfolio holding.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Webster County, so no assessment of the local job base or rental demand drivers is possible here. What the population figure does reveal is that this is a very small market: roughly 9,942 residents. At that scale, rental demand is thin by definition, tenant turnover is harder to absorb, and finding a qualified replacement tenant quickly is more difficult than in a market ten times the size. Small-county Mississippi markets also tend to have limited comparable sales data, which can create real challenges when you need to appraise a property for a refi or exit.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate is $174, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.81% and an insurance rate of 0.5%. The 0.81% rate is flagged as "normal" and is not a material headwind by itself. Because the underlying investment model does not produce a cash-flow figure, it is not possible to say whether $174 per month is the difference between a break-even deal and a losing one, but it is a real line item that belongs in any proforma. Worth noting: the 0.81% is a state-average estimate from the Tax Foundation (2024), and actual rates at the county or township level can differ, so verify the Webster County millage rate directly before closing.

The concentration risk here is significant and structural. A county of under 10,000 people with declining home prices, a zero cash-flow score, and a 23rd-percentile national ranking offers almost no margin for error. If a single employer in a small town reduces headcount, or if one of your units sits vacant for two or three months, the math on a thin or nonexistent cash-flow deal deteriorates quickly. There is no vacancy data in the provided inputs, but the small population and price decline together are consistent with weak demand conditions rather than strong ones.

Compared to its neighbors, Webster is not the obvious choice. Winston County and Copiah County both carry overall scores of 53, modestly above Webster's 50, at median prices of $136,992 and $133,248 respectively, meaning they are cheaper to buy into and score higher. Panola County at $184,391 scores 51 but costs meaningfully more. Leflore County at $79,565 scores 51 and offers the lowest entry price in the peer set, though that price level typically reflects demand and structural challenges of its own. Adams County at $116,847 scores only 46, making it the weakest neighbor on a composite basis. If you are determined to invest in rural Mississippi, Winston or Copiah present a slightly better risk-adjusted profile than Webster, at lower prices and higher scores. Webster would make sense over its neighbors only if you identified a specific asset there with confirmed rents and a cap rate the model cannot currently verify.