Trousdale County

Trousdale County scores a cash flow of 0 across every return metric in the dataset, including cap rate and cash-on-cash return, which tells you exactly where this market sits on the spectrum: appreciation-first, cash-flow-last. The appreciation score of 81 out of 100 backs that up, and the 3.49% year-over-year home price gain on a median of $362,116 confirms prices are still moving. What's missing from the data is a median rent figure, which means no price-to-rent ratio can be calculated here, but the cash flow score of 0 makes the implied conclusion plain enough: at a $362,116 median, rents in this market are not covering costs at conventional financing rates of 6.85%. Investors who need their properties to cash flow from month one should treat that zero as a stop sign.

The scores define the audience narrowly. Appreciation buyers and longer-horizon investors who can tolerate negative or breakeven carry while waiting on equity gains will find the 81 appreciation score and the 3.49% price growth worth underwriting. Cash-flow buyers have no case here based on the numbers provided, and the overall score of 63 out of 100, combined with a stability score of 50, signals a market that rewards patience more than it rewards leverage. The affordability index of 52 out of 100 suggests the market is already stretched relative to local incomes, which tends to compress the buyer pool and funnel more residents into rentals, a tailwind for occupancy, but one that can also cap the rent ceiling if wages don't support higher rents. Value-add operators might find opportunity in that gap, buying below the median and forcing appreciation through improvement, but the data doesn't support a specific underwrite for that thesis here.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Trousdale County, so the demand drivers behind rental occupancy and wage growth can't be addressed from this dataset. What the data does show is a county of roughly 11,596 people, a small and concentrated market by any measure. At that population size, a single large employer, institutional shift, or demographic change has outsized impact on vacancy and rent growth relative to a county five times the size. Investors accustomed to the liquidity and demand depth of mid-size metros should factor the illiquidity premium carefully when setting their exit assumptions.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance figure comes to $323, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.71% and an insurance rate of 0.36%. The tax flag is "normal," meaning Tennessee's state-average rate doesn't add meaningful drag beyond what you'd model in a standard underwrite. That said, the note in the data is worth repeating: this is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Trousdale may differ, so pull the county assessor's current millage rate before you finalize your numbers. The $323 monthly combined figure is meaningful on a deal where cash flow is already at zero, since even a modest upward deviation in the actual local rate tightens an already thin margin.

The concentration risk here is real and worth naming plainly. A population of 11,596 means Trousdale is one of the smallest counties in the dataset, ranking 22nd out of 95 Tennessee counties overall and 295th out of 1,000 nationally, landing at the 62nd percentile. That's a respectable composite rank, driven largely by appreciation momentum, but a small and potentially illiquid resale market means exit timing matters more than it would in a larger market. Absorption is slower, buyer pools are thinner, and a forced sale in a down cycle has fewer bidders.

Compared to the neighboring counties in the data, Trousdale is the most expensive by median home price at $362,116, sitting well above Anderson County at $301,800, Greene at $240,638, Madison at $222,286, Shelby at $215,746, and Carroll at $180,314. Every neighbor for which rent data is available shows a price-to-rent ratio between 6.4% and 7.6% annually, with Shelby County leading at 7.58% and Anderson at 6.36%. Trousdale offers no equivalent rent data, but the zero cash flow score implies its ratio falls below those neighbors. If cash flow is the priority, Shelby or Madison County produce higher rent yields on lower purchase prices and carry similar or lower overall scores. Trousdale makes sense over its neighbors only if an investor specifically wants the higher appreciation trajectory and is willing to subsidize carry costs, or if they have a specific reason to believe local rents are undermarked relative to a nearby demand driver that isn't captured in this dataset.