Sevier County

Sevier County posts an appreciation score of 85 out of 100 and a cash-flow score of 0, which tells you almost everything you need to know about where this market sits on the spectrum. Median home prices are $338,286, up 4.54% year-over-year, and the affordability index sits at 58, meaning the market is moderately accessible but not cheap. The cap rate and cash-on-cash return fields are both zero in the underlying data, which is the model's way of signaling that at current price levels and a 6.85% rate, conventional leveraged cash flow is essentially nonexistent. This is an appreciation play, full stop, and investors who underwrite it expecting meaningful monthly income will be disappointed.

The investor profile this market suits is a long-hold appreciation buyer, not a cash-flow operator or a value-add flipper chasing distressed inventory in a dense rental pool. The 4.54% annual price growth in a county of only 21,667 people is notable, and the 85 appreciation score ranks this among the stronger growth trajectories in the dataset. That said, the stability score of 50 is a caution flag: smaller rural counties are more susceptible to demand shocks because there are fewer economic levers to cushion a downturn. An investor comfortable holding through volatility, not dependent on monthly cash flow to service the debt, and positioned to benefit from continued Utah migration trends is the right buyer here. Anyone who needs this asset to self-fund from rents should look elsewhere.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Sevier County, so any attempt to characterize the local job base or institutional demand drivers would be speculation. What the data does reflect, through the population figure and affordability index, is a small, moderately affordable county in central Utah, the kind of market that tends to benefit from spillover demand from larger metros rather than generating its own employment-driven rental demand. Investors should conduct independent due diligence on the local employer mix and vacancy conditions before committing.

On carrying costs, the tax and insurance picture is a genuine tailwind here. Utah's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.63%, flagged as low, which at the $338,286 price point translates to roughly $2,131 in annual property taxes. Combined with an estimated $643 in annual insurance, the monthly tax-and-insurance burden is approximately $231. That is materially lower than what investors face in high-tax states, and it does give some breathing room on the expense side even when gross rents are thin. The honest caveat, per the source data itself, is that 0.63% is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024, and actual county or township rates in Sevier may differ. Run the real county assessor numbers before finalizing your proforma.

The primary risk in Sevier is concentration: a population of 21,667 means the rental market is thin, and any softening in local demand, whether from an employer contraction, demographic outflow, or a pullback in Utah's broader migration wave, will hit occupancy harder and faster than it would in a larger metro. There is no diversification buffer. A two-or-three-unit portfolio here is effectively a single-market bet with limited exit liquidity compared to what you would find in a county seat with a university or regional hospital anchor.

Compared to its neighbors, Sevier's $338,286 median sits between the cheaper options and the more expensive ones. Carbon County at $270,914 and Emery County at $288,826 offer lower entry points and slightly higher overall scores (67 and 68, respectively), which may produce better initial yield math for investors who need cash flow to be at least close to breakeven. Emery's score of 68 versus Sevier's 66 at a $49,000 lower price point is worth examining if appreciation trajectory is roughly comparable. Juab County at $442,422 is priced well above Sevier and scores one point lower overall, which is hard to justify on numbers alone without a specific growth thesis. Millard County at $334,525 and a matching overall score of 66 is nearly a direct comparable and should be underwritten side-by-side. Choose Sevier over its neighbors specifically when your thesis depends on the appreciation score differential, the low-tax carry advantage, and a longer hold period where that 85-point growth trajectory has time to compound. If you need cash flow in years one through three, Carbon or Emery are the more defensible entries.