Pemiscot County

Pemiscot County sits at the extreme affordability end of the Missouri market, with a median home price of $92,033 and an affordability index of 100 out of 100. The problem is that affordability alone does not make a market investable. The cash flow score is 0, the appreciation score is 9, and home prices are down 7.84% year over year. No cap rate or cash-on-cash return is calculable from the provided data, which itself signals a market where the rent-to-price relationship is difficult to underwrite with confidence. What Pemiscot offers on paper, a sub-$100,000 entry price, is undercut by a shrinking price trend and scores that place it in the 21st percentile nationally and 98th out of 113 Missouri counties.

The investor profile this county might theoretically attract is the deep-value buyer who can acquire at $92,033 all-cash, eliminate the mortgage drag, and make the numbers work on gross yield alone. At a 6.85% rate, a financed deal on this asset class is punishing: even a modest mortgage erodes whatever thin margins exist. The cash flow score of 0 suggests rents are not covering expenses at conventional leverage, and with prices declining 7.84% year over year, there is no appreciation tailwind to compensate. This is not an appreciation play at a score of 9. A value-add operator who can force equity through renovation might find opportunity if acquisition costs stay well below the $92,033 median, but the thin buyer pool in a county of 15,555 people creates real exit risk when it comes time to sell or refinance.

No economic anchor data was provided for Pemiscot County, so no employer or sector analysis can be made here. What the population figure of 15,555 does tell you is that this is a small, rural county. Rental demand in markets this size is typically driven by a narrow base of local employment, and any contraction in that base has an outsized effect on occupancy. A stability score of 50 is middling and does not suggest meaningful insulation from demand volatility.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $108, based on Missouri's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.97% and an insurance rate of 0.44%. That is a relatively light carry burden on a $92,033 asset, and the 0.97% rate is flagged as normal, so it does not represent a material underwriting headwind. Worth noting: the 0.97% figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual Pemiscot County or township-level rates may differ, so confirm the county assessor's current levy before finalizing your underwrite. At $108 per month all-in for tax and insurance, the fixed cost floor is low, which is one of the few structural positives in this market.

The primary risks here are concentration and demographic. A county of 15,555 with declining home prices and a near-zero cash flow score is exposed on multiple fronts: a thin rental pool, limited institutional buyer interest, and a population base that in rural Missouri counties of this size often trends toward outmigration. The 7.84% price decline year over year is not a random fluctuation to dismiss; in a small market, sustained price erosion can reflect structural demand loss. Regulatory risk is not flagged by the data, but liquidity risk, the ability to exit at or near acquisition price, is a real concern when the buyer universe is this narrow.

Comparing Pemiscot to its listed neighbors sharpens the picture. Sullivan County at $95,300 and an overall score of 45 is similarly priced but scores lower, so it does not represent a better alternative. Oregon County at $165,121 and a score of 54, and Dallas County at $229,545 with a score of 55, both score higher while carrying more price exposure. Warren County scores 53 with a median of $326,768 and a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0372, and Polk County scores 51 at $274,935 with a ratio of 0.0363. Those ratios, both above 3.6%, indicate rent coverage relative to price that is materially better than what Pemiscot's zero cash flow score implies at its price point. If you are buying in Missouri and need cash flow, Warren and Polk offer calculable rent-to-price ratios with higher overall scores. Choose Pemiscot only if you have a specific all-cash, high-yield thesis with a verified rent roll in hand, because the market-level data does not support a speculative entry.