Bedford County

Bedford County's headline numbers tell a familiar mid-South story: a gross rent multiplier that works out to roughly 20x annual rent, a 4.97% rent-to-price ratio, and a modeled cap rate of 3.24%. That puts Bedford squarely in appreciation territory rather than cash-flow territory. The median home price of $326,906 against median rent of $1,356 leaves almost no room at current financing costs. Running a conventional 20% down at 6.85%, the model produces a monthly mortgage of $1,714, estimated expenses of $474, and a cash-flow figure of negative $832 per month, which translates to a cash-on-cash return of -13.28%. Year-over-year price growth of 0.94% is barely above flat, so the appreciation case is not compelling either. The county's overall score of 53 out of 100, landing at the 30th percentile nationally and 51st out of 95 Tennessee counties, confirms this is a middle-of-the-road market that rewards neither the cash-flow buyer nor the appreciation buyer particularly well at current price levels.

The investor profile this market fits most narrowly is someone with a long holding horizon who can either pay significantly below the median, force appreciation through value-add work, or bring a larger down payment that meaningfully changes the monthly carry. At full price with conventional financing, the negative cash flow is not a rounding error, it is $9,984 per year out of pocket before any vacancy or capex. A value-add operator who can acquire at 15-20% below median, push rents above the $1,356 median through renovation, and stabilize at a yield closer to 6% would have a real thesis here. The affordability index of 60 suggests the local renter base is not severely rent-burdened, which gives some room to push rents, but not unlimited room. The cash-flow score of 45 and appreciation score of 59 reflect what the raw numbers say: neither side of the return equation is working hard enough at today's purchase prices.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Bedford County, so it would be speculative to characterize the local job base. What the demographic data does confirm is a relatively modest population of 50,533, which limits the depth of the rental pool and the diversity of demand drivers. Small-county concentration risk is real: a single large employer closing or a highway project rerouting commercial activity can move vacancy rates in a way that a 500,000-person metro absorbs without blinking. A market this size warrants extra attention to local employment trends during due diligence, even if that analysis sits outside the scope of the data here.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance burden of $292 is already embedded in the expense estimate. Tennessee's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.71% carries a "normal" flag, meaning it is neither a tailwind nor a headwind relative to national norms, though the standard caveat applies: that figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and your actual county or township rate may differ materially once you pull the parcel-level assessment. Insurance at 0.36% annually reflects Tennessee's exposure to weather events and adds $98 per month on a $326,906 property. Neither figure is alarming on its own, but in a market where gross yield is already thin, there is no cushion to absorb a county rate that runs above the state average.

Comparing Bedford to its neighbors sharpens the picture. Knox County prices out at $369,942 median but delivers a rent-to-price ratio of 5.80% and an overall score of 54, making it a better gross-yield market despite higher entry cost. Washington County is even more instructive: at $296,677 median and a 6.34% rent-to-price ratio, it offers a meaningfully better yield profile at a lower absolute price, also scoring 54 overall. Grundy County comes in at $200,790 median with a 54 overall score, which likely reflects either higher relative yields or different risk factors, but no rent data was provided to confirm. Meigs and Sequatchie sit in the $276,000-$281,000 range with overall scores of 52-53, roughly equivalent to Bedford.

The honest answer is that an investor choosing Bedford over Washington County needs a specific reason to do so, and the data does not supply one. Washington County's rent-to-price ratio of 6.34% versus Bedford's 4.97% is a 137-basis-point advantage that shows up directly in cap rate and cash-flow math. Bedford makes sense if you have found a specific below-market acquisition, have local contractor relationships that support a value-add strategy, or have identified a sub-market within the county where rents run above the median. Absent one of those edges, the neighboring markets with better rent-to-price ratios present a cleaner underwriting story at comparable or lower price points.