Mountrail County

Mountrail County scores an 82 on appreciation and lands in the 82nd percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties tracked, which tells you something meaningful about its price trajectory. Home prices sit at $241,356 with 9% year-over-year growth, and the affordability index of 78 suggests buyers are not yet priced out, leaving room for continued upward movement. The cash flow score of 0 is the counterweight: no cap rate, no estimated cash flow, and no monthly cash-on-cash figure are populated in this dataset, which means the income side of the ledger is thin or simply unavailable at current market prices given a 6.85% rate environment. Investors should treat this as an appreciation-forward market until they can source rent comps locally and run a full income analysis against actual lease rates.

The profile here fits an appreciation buyer or a patient long-hold investor, not a cash-flow operator looking for day-one yield. The $241,356 median price at 20% down produces a $48,271 equity entry point, which is modest relative to many appreciation markets, but without a positive cap rate, leveraged cash flow is unlikely to pencil without a significant rent premium over the state median. A value-add operator might find opportunity if distressed assets trade at a meaningful discount to that median, since the 9% annual appreciation provides a meaningful exit tailwind even on a compressed timeline. Cash-flow buyers chasing a 7%+ cap rate should look elsewhere unless they can source off-market product well below the $241,356 median.

Mountrail County sits in the Bakken formation oil patch of western North Dakota, which is the underlying driver of both its price appreciation and its volatility profile. No specific employer data was provided in this dataset, but the county's economic character in this region is well understood to be energy-correlated, and the stability score of 50 reflects that directly. A score at the midpoint of the scale signals meaningful cyclicality, the kind that follows commodity price swings. Investors underwriting here need to factor in what a sustained oil price downturn does to local employment and, by extension, to rental demand and rent levels in a county of fewer than 10,000 residents.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance load comes to $268, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.98% and an insurance rate of 0.35%. The tax flag is "normal," so the rate does not create an unusual drag relative to national benchmarks, and it does not require special treatment on your underwrite beyond standard practice. That said, the disclaimer matters: the 0.98% figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township assessments in Mountrail may differ, so confirm the current mill levy before closing. At $268 per month, this line item is material but not punishing on a $241,356 asset.

The primary risk here is concentration. A population of 9,648 in an energy-driven county means the rental pool is narrow, tenant turnover can be sharp when energy employment contracts, and vacancy events carry outsized weight on annual returns. There is no vacancy data in this dataset to quantify that risk precisely, but the stability score of 50 is the model's way of pricing it in. Regulatory risk is not flagged in the data and there is no basis to speculate on it. Demographic risk is implicit in the population size: at under 10,000 residents, any large employer contraction or energy project wind-down can move the rental market materially.

Compared to its neighbors, Mountrail at $241,356 offers a middle-entry price point. McKenzie County ($356,622, score 71) and Dunn County ($344,716, score 69) carry significantly higher price tags for the same or lower overall scores, making Mountrail more capital-efficient on a per-point basis if appreciation is your thesis. Ransom County ($197,391, score 71) and Ramsey County ($220,838, score 70) are cheaper at similar or near-similar scores, which means they may offer better affordability for investors seeking to minimize exposure in a thinner market. Choose Mountrail over its neighbors when your conviction is specifically in western Bakken appreciation, you are comfortable with energy-cycle risk, and you can acquire below the median price to compensate for the absent cash-flow cushion. If capital preservation and stable tenancy matter more than price appreciation, the lower-priced neighbors with diversified local economies deserve the closer look.