Cocke County

Cocke County scores 72 overall and lands at the 86th national percentile out of 1,000 counties tracked, placing it 5th in Tennessee out of 95 counties evaluated. The appreciation score of 83 is the headline number here. Median home prices sit at $241,556, up 4.08% year over year, which is a real annualized gain in a county where the affordability index of 78 suggests prices haven't yet priced out the buyer pool. The cash flow score, however, is zero, and the cap rate field returns zero as well. That's not a rounding quirk; it signals that at $241,556 and a 6.85% rate, the spread between rental income and debt service is thin to nonexistent on a conventional financing structure. Investors need to go in clear-eyed: this is not a county where you buy, place a tenant, and clip a yield check.

That framing tells you exactly who Cocke suits. The appreciation buyer, specifically one with a medium-to-long hold horizon of five-plus years, has a real case here given the 4.08% annual price growth and a national ranking in the top 14%. The affordability index of 78 means there's still room to run before prices hit the ceiling that has choked appreciation in overheated metros. A cash-flow buyer running standard 25% down at 6.85% should model carefully before committing; the data doesn't support an assumption of positive carry at current prices and rates. A value-add operator who can force equity through renovation, or acquire below the $241,556 median, may be able to manufacture a spread that the market isn't handing out at list price. The stability score of 50 is worth taking seriously: this is not a set-it-and-forget-it market, and operators who need predictable occupancy and rent growth should weight that score accordingly.

The monthly tax and insurance figure on a median-priced purchase works out to $215, combining an estimated $1,715 in annual property taxes at a 0.71% effective rate and $870 in annual insurance at 0.36%. The 0.71% property tax rate is flagged as normal, which is a genuine underwriting tailwind in the context of many comparable markets, though the caveat matters: this is a state-average estimate from the Tax Foundation's 2024 data, and the actual Cocke County or township-level rate may differ. Run the county assessor's figures before you close. On a $241,556 property, a 0.71% rate produces a manageable carry number; if your target parcel comes in materially higher at the local level, that changes the cash-flow math on a deal that's already thin.

The stability score of 50 is the number that deserves the most attention in a risk discussion. A population of 36,186 means the rental demand pool is small, and any significant shift in local employment, demographic composition, or housing supply can move vacancy rates faster than in larger metros. The data doesn't supply vacancy figures or specific employer names, so no precise concentration risk can be quantified, but small-county dynamics apply: fewer large employers means less redundancy in the tenant base. Investors accustomed to deep markets with multiple demand drivers should build that uncertainty into their underwrite rather than assuming the appreciation trend insulates them from occupancy risk.

Compared to its neighbors, Cocke's overall score of 72 clears every county in the comparison set. Claiborne County scores 74 on an overall basis at a $228,611 median, making it the closest competitor; the $13,000 price gap is modest, but Cocke's 5th-place Tennessee ranking versus Claiborne's score suggests Cocke has an edge in appreciation trajectory. Rhea and Lincoln counties each score 68, with medians of $266,373 and $257,281 respectively, meaning an investor pays more and gets a lower composite score. Carroll County scores 63 at a $180,314 median, cheaper but considerably lower-rated. Anderson County scores 62 despite the highest median in the group at $301,800 and a documented rent-to-price ratio of 0.064, which translates to roughly $1,601 in median rent against a much higher entry cost. Choose Cocke over Anderson when your thesis is appreciation and price efficiency; choose Anderson if your underwrite requires a documented rent-to-price ratio and you're willing to pay the premium for a larger, more liquid market.