Stone County

Stone County prices in at a 3.49% cap rate and a gross rent-to-price ratio of 0.0054 monthly (5.37% annualized), which puts it squarely in appreciation territory rather than cash-flow country. At a $329,575 purchase price financed at 6.85%, the modeled monthly mortgage runs $1,728 against a median rent of $1,475, producing negative cash flow before a single expense hits the ledger. After adding $516 in estimated monthly expenses, the all-in cash-on-cash return lands at -12.17%. The cap rate of 3.49% is below the cost of debt by a wide margin, meaning leverage is working against the buyer, not for them. Home prices are appreciating at 2.86% year-over-year, which is real but not dramatic, and the county's appreciation score of 79 out of 100 is the one number that genuinely stands out in this dataset.

That appreciation score is the honest reason to consider Stone. An investor whose strategy depends on rent covering the mortgage from day one should look elsewhere: the cash-flow score of 51 and the stability score of 50 both confirm this is a market where the carry is the cost of entry for a longer-term hold. If you are an appreciation-oriented buyer willing to subsidize negative monthly cash flow in exchange for price growth, or a second-home investor who can partially offset carry through short-term rental income in a Ozarks-adjacent leisure market, the numbers are at least coherent with that thesis. A value-add operator hunting for deep discounts to manufacture yield will find the median price of $329,575 leaves limited margin, particularly against a rent ceiling that the $1,475 median already suggests is not dramatically expandable. The affordability index of 59 signals the market is not cheap for residents, which caps organic rent growth potential.

The taxInsurance picture adds modest but real friction to the carry math. Combined monthly property tax and insurance runs $387 on a median-priced property, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.97%. That rate sits in a normal range and is not itself a deal-killer, but it is a meaningful line in the underwrite when gross rent is already $253 below the mortgage payment alone. The insurance figure of $1,450 annually reflects Missouri's exposure to weather-related claims and deserves verification at the asset level. The note on the tax data is worth keeping: the 0.97% is a state-average effective rate from Tax Foundation 2024, and actual county and township assessments in Stone County may differ from that figure in either direction.

Regulatory and demographic concentration risk is real for a county of 31,314 people. Small population bases mean vacancy swings tied to one employer, one industry, or one demographic cohort can move metrics sharply. The Ozarks leisure economy is a known double-edged factor: it drives demand for certain rental configurations, including short-term and vacation-adjacent product, but that same dependence on discretionary travel spending creates cyclical sensitivity that a plain-vanilla long-term rental model does not fully capture. Stone ranks 402nd out of 1,000 counties nationally, sitting at the 49th percentile overall, and 81st out of 113 Missouri counties. Neither ranking suggests a market with a structural edge; it is median in most respects and only elevated in the appreciation dimension.

Compared to the neighboring counties in the dataset, Stone occupies an interesting middle position. McDonald County prices in at $224,100 with an identical overall score of 59, meaning an investor can buy roughly $105,000 cheaper for the same composite grade. Franklin County at $254,867 and a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0509 scores a 60 overall, offering slightly better yield efficiency at a lower entry point. Saint Charles County at $360,670 carries a higher price but a meaningfully better gross yield at 0.0566 annualized and also scores 60, suggesting the larger, more liquid St. Louis suburban market generates enough rent to justify the premium. Christian County at $306,158 is the closest comparable by price and scores 58, fractionally behind Stone. Cape Girardeau County at $236,877 has the weakest rent-to-price ratio of the group at 0.0460, despite a 60 overall score, reflecting a different market dynamic entirely. The case for choosing Stone over its neighbors narrows to a single argument: if you believe Ozarks-area price appreciation will continue to outperform, and you can structure the deal to absorb negative carry, Stone's 79 appreciation score is the highest visible number in this comparison set. If that premise does not anchor your thesis, Franklin or Saint Charles offer comparable or better overall scores with more defensible yield math.