Clallam County

Clallam County sits at a 5.35% gross rent-to-price ratio and a 3.48% cap rate, which places it squarely in appreciation territory on paper, except home prices fell 1.03% year-over-year, so you're not getting that either right now. The investment model at a $488,467 purchase price, 20% down, and 6.85% financing produces a monthly mortgage of $2,561 against estimated rent of $2,179, generating negative cash flow of $1,144 per month before you even finish the math. Cash-on-cash return comes out to -12.22% at current financing. An affordability index of 30 and an overall score of 45, landing in the 13th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties, confirms this is a market where the numbers are working against the buyer at current prices and rates.

For the cash-flow buyer, Clallam is a hard no at these inputs. Negative $1,144 per month is not a rounding error to be managed with operational efficiencies; it's a structural problem driven by the gap between a median home price pushing $490,000 and median rents that stop at $2,179. The cap rate of 3.48% doesn't cover financing costs, which means cash-flow positive operation requires either a substantially larger down payment to cut the debt service, a purchase price materially below the median, or rents meaningfully above $2,179. An appreciation buyer faces a different problem: prices declined year-over-year, the affordability index sits at 30, and a county population of 77,333 doesn't suggest the kind of demand pressure that drives sustained price appreciation. The value-add operator is the one investor who might find a path here, specifically through acquiring distressed or under-rented assets below the median and repositioning to rents above $2,179, though the math still requires discipline on entry price.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Clallam County, so rental demand drivers and job-market stability cannot be assessed from the available data. Investors should conduct their own due diligence on the local employer base before committing capital.

The combined monthly tax and insurance burden of $484 is already baked into the expense estimate of $763 per month, and at a 0.98% state-average effective property tax rate, Clallam falls in the normal range. That said, the caveat matters: 0.98% is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates may differ. It's not a red flag the way a 1.5% or higher rate would be, but $484 per month is still a real line item in a market where you're already running deeply negative on cash flow, so any upward variance from the state average on actual assessed values or local mill rates should be stress-tested before you close.

The primary risk here is concentration in a single-industry or tourism-dependent economy in a small coastal county where the data already shows price softness. With a population of 77,333, vacancy exposure at the individual property level is magnified compared to larger metro markets. The affordability index of 30 also signals that local wages are not keeping pace with home prices, which constrains both renter affordability and the ceiling on future rent growth. If renters can't afford higher rents, the path to positive cash flow through organic rent growth is limited.

Compared to the listed neighbors, Clallam's 5.35% gross yield is actually the best in the peer group. Thurston County comes in at 4.75%, Skagit at 4.35%, Spokane at 4.39%, and Cowlitz at 4.30%. However, Spokane and Cowlitz offer median home prices of $412,282 and $410,147 respectively, meaning the lower absolute cost basis reduces the dollar magnitude of cash-flow losses under the same rate environment and produces a better path to positive cash flow as rates eventually decline. Thurston County scores 47 overall versus Clallam's 45, and its proximity to Olympia and state government employment likely provides more stable rental demand. Jefferson County, at a $604,961 median price, is the only neighbor where the math is demonstrably worse. Choose Clallam over its neighbors only if you find a specific asset priced well below the $488,000 median with above-market rent potential, and even then, run your own numbers hard before committing.