Meigs County

Meigs County sits at a median home price of $118,038, which places it among the most affordable entry points in Ohio and, by the tool's rankings, in the 98th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties evaluated. Year-over-year price growth of 4.93% is meaningful for a county at this price level, and the affordability index of 100 confirms that purchase prices remain accessible relative to local incomes. The overall score of 79 is driven almost entirely by affordability (100) and appreciation (86), while the cash flow score registers zero and no cap rate or rent data is available in the dataset. That combination tells you something important before you underwrite a single deal: this is not a market where the numbers hand you easy yield on the front end. What it offers instead is a very low purchase price, a recent price trend that outpaces many of its neighbors, and a floor on entry cost that limits downside exposure in dollar terms.

The appreciation score of 86 and the 4.93% trailing price growth make Meigs most legible as an appreciation or value-add play rather than a day-one cash-flow machine. A buyer seeking immediate yield should be cautious: with no cap rate or cash-on-cash return data provided, there is no basis to underwrite a stabilized return with confidence, and the missing rent figures mean gross yield cannot be calculated from this dataset alone. That said, the $118,038 median price means a 20% down payment is only $23,608, which dramatically lowers the capital at risk compared to neighbors like Van Wert ($186,971), Crawford ($152,867), or Lucas ($169,370). For an investor willing to source rents locally, run conservative assumptions, and accept that this is a long-hold appreciation story with speculative yield upside, the entry cost alone is a differentiator. A value-add operator who can acquire distressed assets below the median and reposition them has a genuine margin of safety here that simply does not exist in a $170,000 county.

The stability score of 50 is the number that deserves the most attention in any honest underwriting conversation. No economic anchor data was provided for Meigs, so no specific employers or industries can be cited, but the stability score at the midpoint of the scale suggests the local economy carries meaningful cyclical or demographic risk. A population of 22,242 means this is a small, rural county where any single employer exit or demographic outflow can move vacancy rates sharply. Investors used to metro or even mid-size suburban markets should recalibrate their assumptions about tenant pool depth and re-leasing velocity when underwriting here.

On carry costs, the monthly tax and insurance figure of $176 is a real number to put on your model. That breaks down to an estimated $1,841 in annual property taxes at a state-average effective rate of 1.56%, plus $271 in annual insurance. At 1.56%, Ohio's state-average rate is high enough to deserve its own line on your underwrite, and the flag here is "high." For a $118,038 asset, $1,841 in annual property taxes is not catastrophic, but it represents roughly 1.56 cents per dollar of value every year before you account for mortgage service, maintenance, or vacancy, and in a market where gross rents may be modest, that load matters. The honest caveat from the data source applies directly: this is a state-average estimate from the Tax Foundation's 2024 data, and actual Meigs County or township-level rates may differ. Pull the county auditor's current millage before you close.

The primary risks here are concentration and demographic scale. A 22,242-person county has a thin tenant pool by definition, and without vacancy or employment data provided, those risks cannot be quantified, only flagged. Regulatory risk is not addressed in the dataset, so no conclusion can be drawn there. What can be said is that rural Ohio counties at this population level tend to face structural headwinds from out-migration of working-age residents, which affects both rental demand and long-term price support. The 4.93% appreciation figure is encouraging but represents one trailing data point, not a trend series.

Compared to its neighbor cohort, Meigs is the price outlier on the low end by a wide margin. Van Wert is 58% more expensive, Trumbull 36%, Crawford 29%, and Lucas 43%. Of the neighbors with rent data, Trumbull shows a gross rent-to-price ratio of 7.99% and Lucas shows 7.83%, both suggesting that lower-priced Ohio counties can generate meaningful gross yield. Meigs does not have comparable rent data in this dataset, but if local rents track even loosely to those neighboring ratios, the gross yield math at $118,038 would look more interesting than the raw cash flow score implies. Meigs earns its place over a neighbor when the investor's primary constraint is capital, when a $23,608 down payment versus $33,000+ is the difference between doing the deal and sitting it out, or when the strategy is explicitly long-hold appreciation with value-add upside. Investors who need demonstrated, day-one yield and tenant pool depth should weight Trumbull or Lucas more heavily, where rent figures are available and the economic base is broader.