Roane County

Roane County comes in at a median home price of $132,472 with 6.67% year-over-year appreciation, an affordability index of 100, and an appreciation score of 91 out of 100. That combination tells a clear story: this is a market where you buy cheap, ride price growth, and accept that the cash-flow metrics are not the reason you're here. The model returns zeroed-out cap rate, cash-on-cash, and monthly cash flow figures, which means the rent-to-price relationship either isn't favorable enough to produce meaningful yield at current financing costs or the rental income data is insufficient to model it reliably. At a 6.85% interest rate on a $132,472 purchase with $26,494 down, carry costs are modest in absolute dollar terms, but investors should not underwrite this expecting day-one income.

The appreciation score of 91 and a national rank of 4 out of 1,000 counties screened make Roane one of the most compelling pure-appreciation plays in the dataset. The affordability index sitting at 100 means prices are accessible enough that the entry bar is low even for newer investors, and the 6.67% annual price growth gives a holder meaningful equity accumulation against a very small nominal base. The cash-flow score of 0 is the counterweight. This county suits the appreciation buyer who can carry a property near breakeven, or the value-add operator who can force equity through renovation and either refinance or sell into the appreciating market. It does not suit the investor who needs net operating income to service debt from month one.

On carry costs, the tax and insurance picture is a genuine tailwind. West Virginia's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.59%, flagged as low, and the insurance rate adds another 0.26%. On a $132,472 purchase those two line items combine to $94 per month, or $1,126 annually. For context, that is less than half the monthly tax-and-insurance burden you'd face on a similarly priced property in a high-tax state. The caveat that applies here: the 0.59% figure is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024, and actual Roane County or township-level rates may differ, so pull the county assessor's current millage before finalizing any underwrite. Even with some variance, the direction of the signal is favorable.

The stability score of 50 is the number that demands the most attention in a risk conversation. Roane County has a population of 14,027, which puts it firmly in small-market territory. No economic anchors are provided in the data, so there is no named employer or institutional demand driver to point to as a floor for rental demand. Small, rural Appalachian counties without a visible anchor employer carry real concentration risk: a single facility closure, infrastructure deterioration, or continued outmigration can compress both rents and the buyer pool for resale. A stability score at the midpoint means this market is not distressed, but it is not insulated either. Investors should factor in longer average days on market for resale and potential for thinner tenant pools when stress-testing vacancy assumptions.

Against its neighbors, Roane is the cheapest entry point in the comparison set at $132,472, undercutting Preston County ($133,414), Marshall County ($134,743), Hancock County ($146,421), and both Upshur and Ohio counties (each above $154,000). It also carries the highest overall score at 81, ahead of Hancock at 82, Marshall at 80, and all others below. Ohio County is the only neighbor with rent and yield data visible: a median rent of $971 against a $154,458 median price produces a 0.75% monthly rent-to-price ratio, which is thin but measurable. Roane's rent-to-price ratio is not provided, so you cannot make a direct yield comparison. The case for choosing Roane over a neighbor comes down to appreciation momentum and affordability: the lowest purchase price in the group, the best overall score, and 6.67% trailing appreciation suggest price discovery is still happening here. The case for choosing Ohio or Hancock instead is access to a larger, more liquid market with documented rental income data, which matters if your strategy requires visible yield. Choose Roane if you are optimizing for entry price, equity growth, and can tolerate the ambiguity of a small rural market without a clear anchor.