Sullivan County

Sullivan County, Missouri sits at a median home price of $105,926, which is low enough to make entry capital nearly trivial by national standards, and the 5.72% year-over-year price appreciation signals that the market is moving. The affordability index hits 100, a perfect score, and the county ranks 7th nationally out of 1,000 counties and first in Missouri out of 113 on overall score. That's a remarkable position for a county this small. The appreciation score of 88 is the standout metric here. Cash flow data is not available in the underlying dataset, so the cash-flow score and cap rate cannot be quoted, and any underwriting of operating income will require investors to source local rent comps independently. What the data does confirm is that you're buying into a deeply affordable, appreciating market, which places Sullivan closer to the appreciation end of the spectrum than the pure cash-flow end, even if the entry price is low enough that both could theoretically coexist.

The investor profile that fits Sullivan best is someone chasing equity accumulation at minimal capital deployment. A $105,926 purchase requires roughly $21,185 down at 80% LTV, which is a fraction of what a comparable appreciation-growth market in a larger metro would demand. The 88 appreciation score at this price point means you're compounding on a very small base, which limits absolute dollar gains per unit but allows an investor to build a portfolio of several doors for the capital that one suburban Kansas City property would consume. Stability scores 50, which is middling, meaning this isn't a set-it-and-forget-it hold where tenant demand is guaranteed to be deep. A value-add operator willing to manage actively and source local rental data before closing could potentially capture both the appreciation and a yield the aggregate data doesn't fully reflect, but that operator needs to underwrite carefully rather than relying on a favorable score alone.

No economic anchor or employer data was provided for Sullivan County, so demand-side job base analysis is not possible here. With a population of 5,983, the county is small enough that a single employer entering or exiting would meaningfully shift rental demand. That concentration risk is worth investigating before committing capital, even though the affordability and appreciation metrics are compelling on their face.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance on a $105,926 asset runs approximately $124, using Missouri's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.97% and an insurance rate of 0.44%. That's $1,493 annually, or about $1.41 per month per dollar of purchase price, which is a manageable number. The 0.97% property tax rate is flagged as normal, neither a headwind nor a tailwind, and at this price point the absolute dollar burden is modest enough that it shouldn't drive the decision. That said, the provided rate is a state-average estimate, and actual county or township assessments can differ, so pulling the current Sullivan County mill levy before closing is basic due diligence.

The principal risk in Sullivan is the population scale. At under 6,000 residents, vacancy can swing sharply if a rental sits even one or two months longer than expected, and there is limited depth in the tenant pool to absorb multiple units simultaneously. An investor deploying more than two or three doors here is concentrating meaningfully in a single thin market. No regulatory or demographic data was provided beyond population and price trends, so those dimensions require field research.

Compared to its neighbors, Sullivan's median home price of $105,926 is the lowest in the group by a wide margin. Linn County sits at $139,094 with an equal overall score of 80, meaning Sullivan delivers the same composite ranking at 24% less capital per door. Livingston County at $188,828 and Pettis County at $191,272 both score 73, well below Sullivan's 80, and cost roughly 80% more to enter. Andrew County at $281,483 and Clinton County at $275,256 score 73 and 70 respectively, and are priced more than 2.6 times Sullivan's median. Pettis County is the one neighbor with rent data available, showing a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0676, which gives a useful benchmark for what cash flow could look like in this part of Missouri if Sullivan's rents track similarly. Choose Sullivan over its neighbors when your primary thesis is maximum appreciation score and affordability per dollar invested, your capital budget is limited, and you can tolerate the liquidity and concentration constraints that come with a sub-6,000 population base. If you need the deeper tenant pool or are running a larger portfolio deployment, Linn County at the same overall score and a somewhat higher price point is the most direct trade-off to evaluate.