Beaverhead County

Beaverhead County sits at $407,068 median home price with 2.95% year-over-year appreciation, placing it firmly on the appreciation end of the cash-flow vs. appreciation spectrum. The data assigns it a cash-flow score of 0 and an appreciation score of 80, which is about as clear a signal as you'll get: this county is not generating meaningful monthly surpluses for leveraged buyers. No cap rate or cash-on-cash return is calculable from the available data, and at a 6.85% interest rate on a $407,068 purchase with 20% down, the debt service alone is a meaningful hurdle before you even layer in operating costs. If your underwriting model requires Day 1 positive cash flow, Beaverhead almost certainly does not pencil.

The investor this market suits is someone acquiring for long-term equity appreciation, likely with a substantial cash position or a willingness to absorb neutral-to-negative monthly carry in exchange for price growth. The 80 appreciation score combined with 2.95% annual price movement suggests the county has been gaining ground, and buyers who entered a few years ago have seen that compound. A value-add operator could theoretically force equity through renovation, but the thin population base of 9,469 residents caps the rental demand ceiling and limits exit options when it comes time to sell or refi into a stabilized value. A cash-flow buyer chasing yield should look elsewhere in the state, and the data is explicit on that.

The tax and insurance picture is at least one area that does not punish you. The state-average effective property tax rate is 0.83%, which the data flags as normal, not a drag and not a tailwind worth building a thesis around. That rate produces an estimated $3,379 in annual taxes on this price point. Insurance runs an estimated $1,547 annually at a 0.38% state-average rate, which is relatively modest. Combined, you're carrying roughly $411 per month in taxes and insurance before touching mortgage, maintenance, or vacancy reserves. Worth noting: both figures are state-average estimates per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual Beaverhead County or township-level rates may differ from those figures, so verify with a local tax assessor before finalizing your model.

The risk profile here centers on concentration and scale. A 9,469-person county, anchored in southwest Montana with Dillon as the county seat, does not offer the diversified rental demand you'd find in a larger MSA. Any meaningful employer contraction, enrollment drop at University of Montana Western, or shift in agricultural economics hits the rental pool hard and with limited offset. No economic anchor data was provided to assess specific employer concentration, but at this population level the risk is structural: the market is thin, buyer pools on exit are thin, and tenant pools are thin. Vacancy events in a small county carry outsized portfolio impact. The affordability index of 43 also signals that local residents are stretched relative to home prices, which can pressure rent ceilings if tenant incomes don't keep pace with what you need to cover carrying costs.

Compared to the neighboring counties in the data, Beaverhead is mid-priced and mid-scored. Silver Bow County to the northeast carries a median price of $274,090, a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0577, a visible rent figure of $1,318 per month, and an overall score of 61 versus Beaverhead's 60. That single data point makes Silver Bow materially more interesting for a cash-flow buyer: a lower entry price, a measurable rent, and a higher overall score. Meagher County at $307,903 and Chouteau County at $285,884 offer lower entry points with equivalent overall scores of 60 and 59 respectively, which may offer better basis for appreciation capture with less capital at risk. Golden Valley County at $202,891 is the lowest-entry option in the comparison set, though its 59 score and presumably thinner tenant pool raise their own questions. Stillwater County at $437,730 is the most expensive neighbor and scores the same 60, offering no apparent premium for the higher price. Beaverhead makes the most sense over its neighbors if your thesis is specifically southwest Montana appreciation, you have local knowledge or management infrastructure in Dillon, or you're acquiring a specific property type (agricultural, recreational) where the comparison to residential medians is less relevant. On a purely by-the-numbers basis, Silver Bow delivers more investable yield data with a lower price and a slightly higher score.