Garfield County

Garfield County comes in with a median home price of $241,869 and a cash flow score of zero, which is the data telling you something plainly: the rent-to-price relationship here does not pencil for yield-focused buyers at current financing rates. With a 6.85% interest rate on a 20% down loan, the mortgage alone absorbs a significant portion of any realistic rent, and the model is returning zeroes across cap rate, cash-on-cash, and estimated cash flow. That is not a rounding artifact; it reflects a market where appreciation, not income, is the investment thesis. The appreciation score of 78 out of 100, paired with 10.86% year-over-year home price growth, makes that thesis legible. This is a market sitting squarely on the appreciation end of the spectrum.

The investor this market suits is someone making a medium-term bet on price continuation, not someone who needs month-one cash flow to service a portfolio. With a median home price of $241,869, entry cost is low relative to the statewide picture, and the affordability index of 67 confirms that. The median household income of $57,958 is reasonable against that price point, which matters for owner-occupant demand that can support price stability even when investor yields compress. If you are an appreciation buyer who can tolerate a break-even or slightly negative carry position and has reserves to absorb vacancy, the 10.86% price growth gives you a concrete data point to anchor your return projection. Value-add operators should be cautious: thin rental demand in a market this small limits your ability to force appreciation through renovation and re-lease at a premium, because the tenant pool to absorb that premium is limited.

The economic context here demands honest acknowledgment of scale. Garfield County has a population of 2,310, making it one of the smallest counties in Washington by headcount. No economic anchor data was provided for this county, so the employment base cannot be characterized beyond what the population figure implies: this is a rural agricultural county with extremely limited economic diversification. Rental demand in markets this small is driven by local necessity rather than in-migration or employer-driven relocations. That concentration cuts both ways: there is no single employer whose departure could crater the market, but there is also no employer growth story to drive incremental demand. Stability scores accordingly, coming in at 50 out of 100.

On carry costs, the monthly tax and insurance estimate is $240, combining a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.98% against a $241,869 purchase ($2,370 annually) and an estimated $508 in annual insurance. The 0.98% rate is flagged as normal, which means it is not a meaningful headwind or tailwind relative to the national baseline. Worth noting: this figure is a state-average effective rate sourced from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Garfield can differ from that figure, so confirm the local assessor's rate before closing your underwrite. At $240 per month all-in for taxes and insurance, this is not the line item killing your cash flow; the mortgage at 6.85% on a 20% down structure is doing that work.

The most material risk in Garfield County is demographic and demand concentration. A population of 2,310 means the rental market is thin by definition. A handful of vacancies or a single institutional employer shift can move local vacancy rates meaningfully. There is no data here on vacancy, but a market of this size structurally carries higher single-asset concentration risk than a market ten times larger. Investors used to buying in secondary cities where losing one tenant means finding another from a pool of hundreds are operating in a different environment here.

Against its neighbors, Garfield is the most affordable entry point at $241,869, and it carries the highest overall score at 66, ranking first in the state out of 39 counties. Columbia County at $261,611 and a score of 65 is the closest comparison, followed by Adams at $307,445 (score 64), Ferry at $280,712 (score 63), Lincoln at $317,190 (score 61), and Okanogan at $309,206 (score 60). Garfield's combination of the lowest price and the highest score in this peer group means that if an investor has already decided they are buying in rural eastern Washington for price appreciation rather than cash flow, Garfield is the strongest-ranked option and the cheapest entry. The caveat is that lower price also reflects lower liquidity, and in a market of 2,310 people, your exit options are narrower than in Adams or Okanogan where there is more population and economic activity to support a future buyer pool.