Pawnee County

Pawnee County lands in the 93rd percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties scored, ranking 8th among 77 Oklahoma counties, which immediately tells you this is not a sleepy overlooked market, it is a market that has already been identified by the scoring model as having something real going for it. The median home price of $179,477 is the starting point for underwriting, and with year-over-year appreciation of 3.62%, price movement is present but not dramatic. The affordability index of 92 out of 100 signals that homes here are priced well within reach relative to local incomes, which matters both for your acquisition cost and for the depth of the renter pool. The appreciation score of 82 is the standout metric, while the cash-flow score of 0 and a cap rate that the data cannot fully populate tells you this market is not throwing off easy cash-flow numbers at current financing costs. At a 6.85% interest rate on a $179,477 purchase with a $35,895 down payment, debt service alone will pressure monthly returns, and investors should run a full underwrite before expecting positive monthly cash flow.

That profile, high affordability, meaningful appreciation, constrained cash flow at today's rates, puts Pawnee squarely in the appreciation-oriented buyer's column. If you are a cash-flow buyer expecting a clean 8% or 9% gross yield from day one, the data here does not support that thesis at current prices and rates. The stability score of 50 is a caution flag, it is not catastrophically low, but it suggests the market carries more volatility than a stabilized cash-flow play typically warrants. Where Pawnee does make sense is for a buy-and-hold investor with a 5-to-10-year horizon who is comfortable with moderate near-term carry in exchange for appreciation upside in an affordable market. A value-add operator who can acquire below median and force appreciation through renovation also fits here, given that the affordability index of 92 suggests buyers and renters at multiple price points are active in the market.

On the carry-cost side, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure comes to $242, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.90% and an insurance rate of 0.72%. That $242 per month is a real number on the expense side of your underwrite and, at 0.90%, the tax rate is squarely in the normal range, meaning it is neither a tailwind nor a penalty compared to the national picture. Worth noting: that rate is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and your actual Pawnee County or township rate may differ, so pull the county assessor's current millage before finalizing your numbers. The insurance rate of 0.72% reflects Oklahoma's elevated wind and severe-weather exposure, and at $1,292 annually it is a line item that tends to surprise investors coming from lower-risk states. Budget it from the start.

The primary risk in Pawnee County is scale. A population of 15,682 means the rental market is thin, and a handful of vacancies or a single large employer pulling back can move the needle meaningfully on occupancy. There is no economic anchors data provided in the dataset, so no specific employers or industries can be named here, but in a county of this size, demand concentration is the structural risk to underwrite. If your strategy requires placing multiple units quickly, you may face absorption constraints that a larger market would not present. The stability score of 50 reinforces this: this is not a market where the numbers are consistent enough to underwrite like clockwork. Investors who own in thin rural markets successfully typically do so by knowing the local tenant base intimately, keeping rents slightly below top of market to minimize vacancy, and holding long enough for appreciation to do the work.

Compared to neighboring counties, Pawnee's overall score of 75 sits in the middle of the peer group. Woodward County scores a point higher at 77 and offers a significantly lower entry price at $133,590, which would immediately improve monthly cash-flow math at the same interest rate. Comanche County also scores 76 with a median of $150,944 and a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0837, which is a concrete yield signal that the data does not provide for Pawnee, and that higher ratio is worth a direct comparison underwrite. Kingfisher County at $225,453 scores 72, meaning you are paying more for a lower-ranked market. McIntosh County at $195,367 scores 73, similarly a worse value proposition than Pawnee on a score-per-dollar basis. The case for choosing Pawnee over its neighbors comes down to the appreciation score of 82, which is the highest differentiator in the dataset, and the affordability index of 92. If your model is appreciation-first and you want a low entry price with upside, Pawnee beats Kingfisher and McIntosh on both cost and score. If monthly cash flow is the priority, Woodward's lower price point and Comanche's demonstrated rent-to-price ratio make those counties the more direct comparison.