Meagher County

Meagher County, Montana scores a 60 overall out of 100, landing at the 52nd percentile nationally across 1,000 counties, which places it firmly in the middle of the pack. The cash flow score is 0, and the investment estimate fields for cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and monthly cash flow all come back at zero, which tells you something direct: at a $307,903 median home price with the rental income data insufficient to model a return, this is not a market where the numbers pencil on cash flow. Home prices rose 2.74% year-over-year, and the appreciation score of 77 is the one metric that stands out. The affordability index sits at 47 against a median household income of $55,753, meaning locals are already stretched relative to home prices. That compression rarely resolves in favor of the landlord on rent yield.

The investor profile this market suits is narrow. The 77 appreciation score makes a case for a buy-and-hold speculator willing to accept flat or negative monthly cash flow in exchange for price growth over a multi-year hold. A cash flow buyer has nothing to work with here: the cash flow score is literally zero, and with a $307,903 purchase price, a 20% down payment of $61,581, and a 6.85% interest rate, debt service alone is substantial before you layer in operating costs. A value-add operator would need to find an asset priced meaningfully below the $307,903 median and force appreciation through rehab, but a population of 1,948 county-wide means the transaction volume to source those deals is extremely limited. This is a county for someone who wants to own Montana real estate for land or lifestyle-adjacent reasons and can tolerate the carry, not someone running a yield-driven portfolio.

No economic anchor data was provided for Meagher County, so the employment base and major demand drivers for rental housing cannot be assessed from this data set. What the population figure does tell you is that at 1,948 residents, the entire county is smaller than many apartment complexes. Rental demand in a market this size is driven by a handful of employers and seasonal dynamics that are not captured here. Any investor should do significant primary research on local vacancy, turnover rates, and who the tenant pool actually is before committing capital.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $311, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.83% and an insurance rate of 0.38%. The 0.83% rate falls in the normal range, so it is not a particular headwind relative to other Montana counties, but keep in mind this is a state-average estimate and actual Meagher County or township rates may differ. The $1,170 annual insurance figure is worth verifying independently given Montana's exposure to weather events. In a market where cash flow is already at zero, that $311 monthly line item has no cushion to absorb if the real-world figures come in higher.

The primary risks here are concentration and liquidity. A county of under 2,000 people means that a single employer closure or population shift could move vacancy from manageable to severe with little warning. There is no depth to the rental market, which means you may wait significantly longer to place tenants and face larger concessions in a soft period. The stability score of 50 reflects this, sitting exactly at the midpoint. Regulatory risk is not flagged in the data, but small rural Montana counties typically have light landlord-tenant regulatory environments, which is one modest structural positive.

Comparing Meagher to its neighbors reinforces that it occupies an odd middle ground. Dawson County at $185,301 and Golden Valley County at $202,891 offer meaningfully lower entry prices at comparable overall scores of 59, making them more accessible for an investor who needs a lower-cost basis to get returns to work. Chouteau County at $285,884 and Silver Bow County at $274,090 both come in cheaper than Meagher, and Silver Bow is the only neighbor with rent and yield data available: a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0577, which translates to a gross yield in the 5.7% range, is a materially more promising starting point for a cash flow underwrite than anything Meagher presents. Silver Bow also scores a 61 overall, slightly ahead of Meagher. Stillwater County is the most expensive neighbor at $437,730, also scoring 60, so it does not offer a yield advantage either. The case for choosing Meagher over its neighbors would rest almost entirely on a specific appreciation thesis tied to a particular property, not on income return. If yield is your objective, Silver Bow or one of the lower-priced neighbors gives you a better foundation to model from.