Bledsoe County

Bledsoe County scores 69 overall and ranks 9th out of 95 Tennessee counties, placing it in the 78th percentile nationally across 1,000 markets. The median home price sits at $257,121, up 10.3% year over year, which is the headline number here. The problem is that the cash flow score is 0, meaning the raw rental math on a standard acquisition is essentially break-even to negative at today's prices and a 6.85% rate. With no cap rate or gross rent multiplier available in the data, the investment case rests almost entirely on appreciation, where the county scores 79, and on its affordability index of 75, which tells you entry prices are still reasonable relative to income in the area.

This market suits an appreciation buyer or a patient long-hold investor who can absorb neutral or slightly negative cash flow in exchange for the 10.3% annual price gain. The affordability index of 75 suggests there is still room for prices to move before the market prices out local renters or buyers, which extends the runway on the appreciation thesis. Cash flow buyers should be direct with themselves: the cash flow score of 0 is not a rounding error. At a $257,121 purchase price with 20% down and a 6.85% rate, the mortgage alone is meaningful before you layer in operating expenses. Value-add operators could potentially find angles here if they can buy below median and force appreciation through improvements, but the thin population base of 14,816 means the buyer pool on exit is limited, and transaction velocity will be slow. Bledsoe is not a market where you execute a quick flip or manufacture yield through cosmetic renovation.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure of $229 is relatively contained. The state-average effective property tax rate of 0.71% is flagged as normal, and at that rate it is not a line item that distorts the underwrite materially. Annual property tax runs approximately $1,826 and annual insurance approximately $926 at these estimates. Note that these are state-average figures per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Bledsoe may differ, so verify with local assessor data before you close. That said, Tennessee's overall tax posture is not a headwind here the way it would be in, say, Illinois or New Jersey, and the 0.71% rate leaves more room in the P&L than the national average.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Bledsoe County, so the underlying demand drivers for rentals are harder to underwrite with confidence. The population of 14,816 is small enough that the rental market is thin by definition. Concentration risk is real: a single large employer closing, a demographic shift, or a policy change affecting the local housing stock could move the needle materially in a county this size. Stability scores at 50, which is squarely median, and that number alone should prompt questions about what is driving the price appreciation. A 10.3% year-over-year gain in a county with 14,816 people could reflect genuine demand, or it could reflect a small sample of transactions. Investors should pull actual sales volume data and days-on-market before treating the price gain as durable.

Against its neighbors, Bledsoe holds a marginal edge. Its overall score of 69 beats Rhea County at 68, Lincoln County at 68, Carroll County at 63, and Anderson County at 62. Claiborne County is the notable exception, scoring 74 on a median home price of $228,611, which is $28,510 cheaper than Bledsoe. That price gap matters: Claiborne offers a better composite score at lower entry cost, which should prompt any investor to run both markets side by side before committing capital to Bledsoe. Anderson County, which has the most complete data among the neighbors, shows a median home price of $301,799 with a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0636 and median rent of $1,601, and scores only 62 overall. That combination suggests Anderson is more expensive with a thinner yield, making Bledsoe more attractive on relative value if the appreciation thesis holds. The clear comparison is Bledsoe versus Claiborne: if your model depends on cash flow, Claiborne's lower entry price gives you more room to work with. If you are buying the appreciation story in the Cumberland Plateau corridor and want to stay below $260,000, Bledsoe is defensible, but the case needs a cleaner economic demand narrative than the data currently provides.