Eddy County

Eddy County, North Dakota scores 48 out of 100 overall, landing at the 19th percentile nationally and 33rd out of 43 counties in the state. The median home price of $113,158 is the headline, and it comes with a year-over-year decline of 7.3%, which tells you immediately that appreciation is not the story here. The appreciation score confirms it at 10 out of 100. The cash-flow score is zero, which is not a rounding issue, it reflects that the rental market in a county of 2,345 people simply does not generate enough transaction volume or rental demand to model reliable income. The cap rate and cash-on-cash return both come back as zero in the underwriting estimate for the same reason. The affordability index of 96 out of 100 means the price-to-income relationship is about as favorable as it gets, but affordability alone does not create a return if there are no tenants to capture it.

The investor profile this county suits is narrow. A cash-flow buyer needs rent, and the data does not support a functioning rental market at scale here. An appreciation buyer needs price growth, and a 7.3% year-over-year decline runs in the opposite direction. The one conceivable use case is a deep-value or legacy buyer, someone acquiring a property well below replacement cost with a very long hold horizon and minimal leverage expectations, or a local operator with specific knowledge of who rents in this market. Even then, a $113,158 median price financed at 6.85% on a standard 20% down structure, $22,632 down, produces a mortgage payment that is difficult to cover when the rental demand base is a population of 2,345. This is not a market where an outside investor scales a portfolio.

No economic anchors were provided for Eddy County, so no employer or industry concentration data is available to assess the stability of rental demand or local job base. The stability score of 50 out of 100 suggests neither particular fragility nor strength, but without knowing what drives income in the county, that number is hard to lean on in underwriting.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $125, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.98% and an insurance rate of 0.35%, which translates to $1,109 in annual taxes and $396 in annual insurance on the median-priced asset. The 0.98% rate carries a "normal" flag, meaning it is neither a tailwind nor a material drag by itself. That said, the disclaimer matters here: the 0.98% is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Eddy County may differ. At $125 per month all-in for taxes and insurance, the carry cost on the asset is low in absolute dollar terms, which is the one genuine underwriting advantage, but low carry costs only help if the revenue side exists to absorb them.

The primary risk in Eddy County is size. A population of 2,345 means the rental pool is small enough that a single job loss event, a business closure, or a household departure can meaningfully shift vacancy. There is no diversification against concentration risk in a market this small. The 7.3% home price decline year-over-year adds a second layer: if you need to exit, the buyer pool is thin and prices are moving against you. Regulatory risk is not flagged by the data, but demographic concentration in a county this size is itself the structural risk.

Comparing Eddy to its neighbors, all five surrounding counties score within a tight band: Nelson at 47, Griggs at 47, McHenry at 50, Lamoure at 45, and Sheridan at 45. Eddy's overall score of 48 sits in the middle of that cluster, and none of these markets are high performers nationally. McHenry County at a score of 50 and a median price of $149,619 is the relative standout, and if an investor is choosing among these options, McHenry's marginally higher score paired with a higher median price suggests at least slightly more active market activity. Eddy's $113,158 median is the lowest in the group, making it the most affordable entry point, but Griggs at $122,528 and Sheridan at $120,651 come close without scoring materially lower. Choose Eddy over its neighbors only if the specific asset, not the county, justifies it, because the county-level data does not present a compelling reason on its own.