Oregon County

Oregon County, Missouri sits at a median home price of $175,499 with year-over-year appreciation of 4.68%, earning an appreciation score of 85 out of 100 and landing in the 96th percentile nationally (30th out of 1,000 counties ranked). Those are legitimately strong appreciation credentials for a county at this price point. The cash flow score, however, is zero, and the cap rate and cash-on-cash return fields carry no positive values either, which tells you directly that this market does not pencil as a yield play using standard underwriting at the current $175,499 purchase price and 6.85% financing. The investment profile here is appreciation-first, with affordability as a secondary draw, not a landlord's income machine.

That profile sharpens when you consider who this county actually suits. An appreciation buyer, someone building long-term equity in an affordable market that has demonstrated price momentum, has a genuine argument here. The affordability index of 92 signals that entry prices remain accessible, and a $35,100 down payment gets you in. But a cash-flow buyer or a value-add operator chasing immediate yield should look elsewhere. With the cash-on-cash return registering at zero and no rent-to-price ratio provided in the data, there is no way to underwrite a positive-carry rental here using these numbers. If your business model depends on monthly spread, this county as currently priced does not support it.

No economic anchor employers or economy notes were included in the data for Oregon County, so the underlying drivers of rental demand and job stability cannot be evaluated from this dataset. That absence is itself worth flagging: Oregon County has a population of 8,783, a small enough base that tenant pool depth is a real operational concern. In a county this size, a handful of vacancies can meaningfully affect your portfolio's performance, and the absence of documented institutional employers means there is no obvious demand anchor to offset that thinness.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $206, based on a state-average property tax rate of 0.97% and an insurance rate of 0.44%. Missouri's 0.97% effective rate falls in the normal range, so it is not the underwriting problem you would face in Illinois or Texas, but at $1,702 annually in property tax and $772 in insurance, you are still putting $2,474 per year into fixed costs before a single maintenance call. As with any state-average figure, the actual county or township rate may differ, and Oregon County's rural classification can affect insurance pricing in ways the state average does not capture, particularly for properties with distance from fire services.

The concentration and demographic risk here is the one worth sitting with. A population of 8,783 in a rural Missouri county means the rental market is thin by definition. If local employment or population trends shift, the correction in a small market can be sharper than the appreciation run that preceded it. The 4.68% year-over-year price gain looks encouraging, but in a county this size, a single large employer closing or a demographic shift toward outmigration can reprice the market quickly. No vacancy data was provided, but at this population level, investors should underwrite for longer lease-up periods and expect fewer qualified applicants per listing than they would see in a mid-sized metro.

The neighboring county comparisons clarify where Oregon County fits in the regional picture. Linn County prices in at $139,094 with an overall score of 80, four points higher than Oregon County's 77, making it worth examining if price entry and overall score matter more to you than Oregon's stronger appreciation profile. Pettis County is the one neighbor with rent data available: a $1,077.78 median rent against a $191,272 median price gives a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0676, which is materially better yield positioning than Oregon County's missing cash-flow metrics imply. If monthly income is your primary objective, Pettis County's data supports a more favorable underwrite. Andrew and Clinton Counties both price above $275,000 with overall scores of 73 and 70 respectively, so they offer neither the affordability nor the ranking advantage of Oregon County. Choose Oregon County specifically when your hold horizon is long, your financing structure minimizes monthly carry (think paid-down equity or creative terms), and you want appreciation exposure in one of Missouri's top-ranked counties at a sub-$180,000 basis. If you need cash flow from day one at standard leverage, Pettis County is the neighbor to underwrite first.