Grant County

Grant County sits at a median home price of $246,740, up 11.65% year-over-year, which is a meaningful appreciation run for a county of 7,533 people. The data does not include a calculated cap rate or cash-on-cash return, and the cash flow score registers at zero, which tells you immediately where this market sits on the spectrum: this is an appreciation play, not a yield play. The affordability index of 77 and an affordability score of 77 out of 100 indicate prices remain accessible relative to income, which has historically supported continued price appreciation in smaller markets as buyers stretch into ownership. The 11.65% price gain in a single year is the headline number here, and it places Grant County squarely in appreciation territory.

The investor this market suits is someone buying for long-term price gains rather than day-one cash flow. With a cash flow score of zero and no positive carry shown in the underwriting estimates, anyone expecting meaningful rent income to service debt at a 6.85% interest rate on a $246,740 purchase, with $49,348 down, needs to go in clear-eyed: the numbers do not pencil as a traditional cash-flow rental without additional due diligence on local rents that this data set does not provide. An appreciation buyer willing to carry a flat or mildly negative position in exchange for price gains similar to last year's 11.65% has a reasonable thesis here. A value-add operator looking to force equity through renovation could find the affordability index of 77 supportive, since relatively low acquisition costs mean less capital at risk while improvements are made. A pure cash-flow buyer chasing yield should look elsewhere.

No economic anchor or employer data was provided for Grant County, so the underlying drivers of rental demand cannot be assessed from this data set alone. What the population figure of 7,533 does signal is concentration risk: in a county this small, a single employer departure, a school closure, or a shift in agricultural economics can move vacancy materially. Small-county markets can deliver strong appreciation during favorable cycles, as the 11.65% gain demonstrates, but the same illiquidity and thin tenant pool that can let prices run can also make them difficult to exit. Investors accustomed to markets with 100,000-plus residents should underwrite Grant's size as a structural risk, not a footnote.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate is $337, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 1.28% and an insurance rate of 0.36%. South Dakota's 1.28% state-average rate lands in the normal range and does not require a special flag in your underwrite, though the caveat in the data applies directly: actual county and township rates in Grant County may differ from the state average, and you should pull the county assessor's specific millage before finalizing any model. At $337 per month, taxes and insurance are a real line item on a sub-$250,000 property and will compress any marginal cash flow if rents are thin. That figure alone represents roughly 1.64% of the purchase price annually, which matters when cap rates are not confirmed positive.

The neighbor comparison is instructive. Grant's median of $246,740 is the lowest among the counties listed, sitting below Davison County at $241,475 (the only one cheaper, by roughly $5,000) and well below Union County at $350,909, Charles Mix at $272,017, Turner at $292,690, and Moody at $286,418. Grant's overall score of 68 is essentially flat with the peer group, all of which score between 67 and 69. That score compression means differentiation comes down to price and appreciation trajectory rather than meaningfully different market quality. At 11.65% annual price growth, Grant is producing appreciation off a lower base than most neighbors, which is typically where percentage gains run hardest. An investor who believes that dynamic continues has a straightforward argument for Grant over Union, which costs $104,000 more per door for the same overall score of 68. The case for choosing Grant over Davison County, the closest price competitor, depends entirely on whether Grant's appreciation rate persists, since Davison scores one point higher overall at a nearly identical price point.