Kinney County

Kinney County sits at a median home price of $122,807, a 4.72% year-over-year appreciation rate, and an affordability index of 100, meaning it scores at the absolute ceiling on price accessibility. That combination explains why it ranks 13th nationally out of 1,000 counties and 5th in Texas out of 243, landing in the 98th national percentile overall. The appreciation score of 85 is the clearest signal the data sends: this is a market where price growth, not rental income, is doing the work. The cash-flow score of 0 and a cap rate of 0 tell you that rental income data is either absent or negligible for this county, so underwriting a traditional buy-and-hold on the strength of monthly NOI is not supported by what's available here.

Given those scores, the investor this market suits is an appreciation buyer willing to deploy a low entry price, $122,807 purchase with a $24,561 down payment at a 6.85% rate, and hold for price gains. The affordability score of 100 means you're acquiring at prices that leave meaningful room for appreciation without overextending on acquisition cost. A value-add operator could also find opportunity here: at this price point, renovation capital can represent a relatively large percentage of ARV, which matters for forced appreciation plays. Cash-flow buyers, however, need to look elsewhere. The tool returns zeroed-out cash-flow and cap-rate figures, and building a return model on top of absent rental income data is a speculative exercise, not an underwrite.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Kinney County, so no claims about job drivers or rental demand sustainability can be made from the available inputs. What the demographic data does signal is a population of 3,157, which is extremely thin. That size creates real concentration risk: a single large employer exit, a shift in local government, or even a modest population decline materially moves the needle on every metric. Stability scores 50 out of 100, which is the bluntest quantitative acknowledgment of that fragility. Investors accustomed to diversified urban or suburban demand pools should treat that 50 as a genuine flag, not background noise.

On carry costs, Texas's state-average effective property tax rate of 1.80% is flagged as high, and at a $122,807 purchase price it translates to $2,211 in annual taxes and $614 in estimated insurance, combining to $235 per month in tax-and-insurance carry before you account for mortgage principal and interest or any maintenance reserves. That $235 monthly figure deserves its own line on your underwrite because at this price point it represents a meaningful fixed drag. Give the state-average rate caveat its due weight: the 1.80% figure comes from Tax Foundation 2024 state-level data, and actual Kinney County or township rates may differ in either direction. Pull the county appraisal district's certified rate before closing.

The thinness of the population is the most concrete risk this data surfaces. With 3,157 residents, tenant demand is inherently shallow, exit liquidity is limited to a narrow buyer pool, and any adverse local event, whether economic or demographic, has an outsized effect. Regulatory and vacancy statistics are not in the provided data, so no claims are made there, but the population figure alone warrants a conservative vacancy assumption in any pro forma you build independently.

Against the neighbor set, Kinney's $122,807 median competes directly with Stonewall County at $91,350 and Cottle County at $65,066, both of which are cheaper on absolute price but score lower overall, at 82 and 68 respectively. Wichita County offers the only neighbor with rent data in this set: a $1,182.85 median rent against a $163,787 median price produces a gross rent-to-price ratio of 0.0867, which is a genuinely cash-flow-oriented profile, and its overall score of 68 versus Kinney's 79 reflects that the cash-flow efficiency there comes with other trade-offs the model penalizes. Andrews and Callahan counties are priced at $244,485 and $220,841 respectively, both scoring 75, making them more expensive entries for similar or lower overall scores. Choose Kinney over the neighbor set when your thesis is low acquisition cost paired with above-average appreciation potential and you have a long enough hold period to absorb the thin liquidity and stability risk that comes with a sub-4,000-person county.