Blaine County

Blaine County scores a 68 overall and lands at the 77th national percentile across 1,000 counties, which tells you the market has something going for it, but the component scores reveal a lopsided picture. The cash flow score is 0, the appreciation score is 70, and the affordability index sits at 82 against a median home price of $222,501. Year-over-year price growth came in at 1.98%, roughly in line with inflation, so this is not a market printing equity gains for passive holders. What it offers is a relatively accessible entry price and a decent appreciation score for rural Montana, but investors running income-first underwriting will find the numbers don't close easily, because the cash flow score bottoming at zero signals that gross rents relative to purchase price are too thin to generate meaningful returns at a 6.85% rate before expenses even enter the picture. Cap rate data was not available, which itself is a signal: in markets this small, transaction volume is low enough that reliable cap rate benchmarks are hard to establish, and that illiquidity risk belongs on your spreadsheet.

This market is misaligned for a cash flow buyer. A score of 0 on that dimension means you should not expect a positive spread between rents and carrying costs at market prices, and the 6.85% rate assumption only tightens the math further. The appreciation buyer gets a more interesting argument: a 70 appreciation score with a sub-$225,000 entry price means you are buying optionality at a cost basis that many Montana markets have already passed. A value-add operator willing to hold a thin or breakeven deal for five-plus years while improving the asset could find this entry point attractive, but only if they have the balance sheet to carry negative or flat cash flow in a county of 7,030 people, where tenant demand is narrow and re-leasing timelines can be long.

No economic anchor data was provided for Blaine County, so the employment base and demand drivers behind rental demand cannot be characterized here. What the population figure alone tells you is that you are underwriting a thinly populated rural county where a single employer contraction or demographic shift has an outsized effect on occupancy. With 7,030 residents, the renter pool is small in absolute terms, and a stability score of 50 confirms this is not a market with a deep demand cushion.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure runs $224, using Montana's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.83% and an insurance rate of 0.38%. The tax flag is "normal," meaning the rate is not a particular headwind or tailwind relative to the national landscape, but the $224 monthly figure is still a real line item on a sub-$225,000 purchase, and it compounds the cash flow problem when gross rents are already thin. The standard caveat applies: the 0.83% figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and your actual county or township rate may differ, so pull the Blaine County assessor data before you finalize any underwrite.

The principal risk here is concentration. A county of 7,030 people with a cash flow score of 0 and a stability score of 50 is exposed to population loss, limited tenant replacement depth, and illiquidity on exit. You cannot assume a buyer pool for your property when you eventually sell, which means your appreciation score of 70 may be harder to monetize than the number implies. Regulatory risk is not flagged in the data, but rural Montana markets generally carry less landlord-regulatory burden than urban ones, so that is not a reason to avoid, just not a reason to expect a problem. Do not read vacancy or absorption statistics into this write-up, as none were provided.

Against its neighbors, Blaine's $222,501 median sits second-cheapest in the peer group, behind only Wibaux County at $211,310. Wibaux ties Blaine on overall score at 70 and beats it slightly, and at a $11,000 lower entry price, Wibaux deserves a side-by-side comparison for any appreciation-oriented buyer. Hill County at $226,664 also scores 70 overall and is nearly identical in price, making it a direct competitor for the same investor thesis at a marginally higher cost but a better overall score. Fergus at $281,570 and Teton at $333,202 both carry higher price tags and lower scores (69 and 67 respectively), so neither presents a compelling upgrade for the capital you'd deploy. Powder River at $263,390 scores 66, which is the weakest number in the peer set. The honest case for choosing Blaine over Hill or Wibaux is slim on the current data: Hill scores higher at a comparable price, and Wibaux is cheaper with the same score. Blaine's 77th national percentile ranking is respectable, but it has to be weighed against the zero cash flow score and a county population that limits your exit options.