Marion County

Marion County sits at a $199,480 median home price with 4.54% year-over-year appreciation, landing it in the 93rd percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties scored. The affordability index of 87 tells you purchasing power goes further here than in most markets. What's absent from the data is a cap rate, cash-flow score, and rent estimate, which means the cash-flow picture cannot be underwritten from this dataset alone. What the numbers do confirm is that Marion scores 85 on appreciation and 0 on cash flow, placing it squarely on the appreciation end of the spectrum. An investor coming in at $199,480 with a 20% down payment ($39,896) and a 6.85% rate needs to pencil their own rent comps carefully before assuming this market pencils as a cash-flow play, because the data doesn't support that assumption.

The appreciation score of 85 combined with the 93rd-percentile national ranking makes Marion worth attention for a buy-and-hold investor whose primary thesis is equity accumulation, not monthly spread. The stability score of 50 is a caution flag: this isn't a market with the demographic depth or economic diversity that cushions against cyclical softness. A well-capitalized appreciation buyer who can carry a property through a soft patch and doesn't depend on the cash flow to service the debt is the right profile here. A cash-flow-first operator or a value-add investor chasing yield should look elsewhere, particularly at Butler County in the neighbor comparison below, where published rent and price data shows a gross rent-to-price ratio of 6.73% at a $160,556 median, something Marion's data doesn't match or refute but cannot currently beat on paper.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Marion County, so job-base analysis cannot be offered here. What the stability score of 50 does signal, in the absence of that context, is that investors should do independent diligence on local employment concentration and population trends before committing. A county of 28,525 people in Missouri carries real concentration risk by its size alone. A single employer contraction or an outmigration event at that population base moves the vacancy needle faster than it would in a metro.

On carrying costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure lands at $234 on a $199,480 purchase, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.97% and an insurance rate of 0.44%. The 0.97% rate is flagged as normal, which means it doesn't create a structural headwind the way a 1.5%+ rate would, but it's still $1,935 annually in tax alone and deserves its own line on the underwrite. Keep in mind this is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and the actual Marion County or township rate may differ. Verify the assessed value methodology and local millage rate before closing.

Marion County's primary risk is scale. At under 29,000 residents, the rental pool is thin, and any demand-side shock, whether a plant closure, a college enrollment drop, or net outmigration, compresses occupancy fast with limited natural absorption. No vacancy or crime statistics are available in this dataset, so those risks cannot be quantified, but the population size alone warrants stress-testing your vacancy assumption conservatively, not at the 5% placeholder that works in a 500,000-person metro.

Against its neighbors, Marion's overall score of 75 is competitive. Livingston County (score 76, median $188,828) is the closest comp on both price and score, and the two markets are essentially tied on investment merit with Livingston slightly cheaper. Linn County scores 80 at a $139,094 median, making it the higher-scoring, lower-entry option in this peer group. An investor choosing Marion over Linn is effectively paying a $60,000 premium per door for slightly lower rank. Andrew County ($281,483, score 73) and Clinton County ($275,256, score 70) cost significantly more for lower scores, making them hard to justify in this comparison. The case for Marion over its neighbors comes down to whether its 4.54% price appreciation rate and 93rd-percentile national ranking reflect a market dynamic the cheaper neighbors don't have, and that thesis requires local market knowledge this dataset alone can't fully confirm.