Crawford County

Crawford County scores an 83 on appreciation and carries a median home price of $229,170, up 8.87% year over year. That kind of price growth, in a county of 23,000 people, is the headline number here. What's conspicuously absent is cash flow data: the tool scores Crawford at 0 on cash flow, and no cap rate or rent-to-price ratio is available for this county. That's not a red flag by itself, but it means you're underwriting on appreciation logic rather than income logic. The affordability index of 81 and median price below $230K suggest entry costs are manageable, but without a rent figure you cannot reliably model debt service coverage. At 6.85% on a 20% down conventional loan, the monthly mortgage on a $229,170 purchase is somewhere around $1,200 before taxes and insurance, and that number has to be covered by local rents you'll need to source independently before committing capital.

The investor this market suits is an appreciation buyer with a longer hold horizon, ideally someone who can either bring cash or tolerate thin monthly margins while the asset appreciates. The 8.87% year-over-year price gain, combined with a national percentile rank of 86th out of 1,000 counties scored, puts Crawford in the top tier for price momentum among the counties this tool tracks. It ranks 16th out of 113 Missouri counties overall. That kind of ranking matters when you're comparing opportunity cost across a state portfolio. A cash-flow operator looking for day-one yield has no data here to support a buy, and should not assume the numbers pencil until rents are confirmed. A value-add operator who can force appreciation through improvements might find the below-$230K entry price useful as a basis, but again, exit cap rates and rental comps need to be sourced locally.

No economic anchor data was provided for Crawford County, so employer-specific demand drivers cannot be assessed from this dataset. What the population figure of 23,023 does tell you is that this is a small, rural Missouri county. Thin population typically means a thin rental pool, and small absolute changes in employment or outmigration can have outsized effects on vacancy. That context should temper the appreciation enthusiasm: price gains in small rural markets can reverse faster than in metro markets when local conditions shift, and there may be fewer buyers for your exit than there would be in a larger market.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate comes in at $269, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.97% and an insurance rate of 0.44%. That's a note: the 0.97% rate carries a "normal" flag relative to Missouri averages, so it's not a material headwind or tailwind, just a standard line item. As always, the rate cited here is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and your actual county or township rate may differ, so verify with the Crawford County assessor before closing. The $269 monthly figure stacks on top of the mortgage payment and should anchor your expense model while you track down actual rent comps.

The neighbor comparison is where this county's positioning gets clearer. Butler County, at a $160,556 median and a rent-to-price ratio of 6.73%, and Saint Louis City, at $175,441 with a rent-to-price ratio of 8.79%, both offer visible cash-flow mechanics that Crawford simply doesn't show in this dataset. If yield is the priority, Saint Louis City's 8.79% gross rent-to-price ratio is materially better than anything Crawford can demonstrate right now, and the city's $1,284 median rent gives you a real number to underwrite against. Andrew County and Clinton County both carry higher median prices ($281,483 and $275,256 respectively) with overall scores of 73 and 70, making them more expensive alternatives without a clear data advantage. Maries County is similarly priced to Crawford at $233,679 and scores 70 overall, five points below Crawford's 72. Choose Crawford over its neighbors when your thesis is specifically Missouri rural appreciation, you're comfortable without current income, and you've done the legwork to confirm rents locally. Choose Saint Louis City or Butler County if cash flow is the primary screen.