Jefferson County

Jefferson County sits at a 2.78% cap rate on a $369,355 median purchase price against $1,315 in monthly rent, producing a gross rent-to-price ratio of 4.27%. At 6.85% financing, that math collapses quickly: a 20% down payment leaves you with a $1,936 monthly mortgage, and after estimated expenses the model projects negative $1,081 in monthly cash flow and a cash-on-cash return of -15.27%. Those are not rounding-error problems, they are structural. The appreciation score of 87 out of 100, paired with 5.28% year-over-year price growth, tells you which side of the spectrum Jefferson sits on: this is an appreciation market, and the income side of the ledger is not going to carry the asset.

That profile narrows the viable buyer considerably. A pure cash-flow investor should move on immediately. The numbers do not work at conventional leverage, and there is no cushion to absorb vacancy, capex, or rate movement. An appreciation buyer with a long hold horizon and the ability to service negative carry, either through reserves or portfolio income elsewhere, is the realistic fit here. A value-add operator might find selective opportunity if they can buy meaningfully below the $369,355 median and force enough rent growth to close the gap, but the market-level cap rate of 2.78% means the margin for error on acquisition price is thin. The affordability index of 51 and the overall score of 55 placing Jefferson at the 36th national percentile confirm this is not a market that rewards average execution.

Wisconsin's state-average effective property tax rate of 1.85% deserves its own line on your underwrite. At that rate, the annual tax bill on a $369,355 purchase runs approximately $6,833, and combined with estimated insurance of $850 annually, you are looking at $640 per month in tax and insurance alone before touching debt service or maintenance. That is 49% of gross rent consumed by two line items. The tax Foundation 2024 estimate is a state-average figure and actual county or township rates in Jefferson may differ, but at 1.85% the direction of risk is clear: Wisconsin's property tax burden is high enough that any underwrite treating taxes as a residual item rather than a first-order cost will produce results that do not survive contact with reality.

No economic anchor data was provided for Jefferson County, so employer-specific demand drivers cannot be assessed here.

The concentration risk worth flagging is demographic. At 85,932 residents, Jefferson is a smaller county, and the appreciation score of 87 suggests price performance has been strong relative to income fundamentals, an affordability index of 51 confirms the market is not cheap for local renters. If price growth moderates or reverses, there is limited income yield to cushion the position. Regulatory data was not provided, so landlord-tenant regime cannot be assessed.

Compared to its neighbors, Jefferson is neither the most expensive nor the most income-productive market in the region. Dane County at a 4.86% rent-to-price ratio and $1,817 median rent offers measurably better income yield on a $448,398 median price, and its overall score of 55 matches Jefferson's while delivering more rent per dollar deployed. Saint Croix County's 5.14% ratio is the highest in this peer group, suggesting the best cash-flow characteristics of the five neighbors listed, also at a 56 overall score, slightly edging Jefferson. Ozaukee County at 4.54% and Waukesha at 4.02% both carry higher price points with mixed yield improvement. Jefferson makes sense over these neighbors in one specific scenario: an investor who is underwriting primarily for price appreciation, wants exposure below the $400,000 threshold that Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Dane all clear, and can hold long enough for the 5.28% annual price growth to compound meaningfully. If income yield is anywhere in the priority stack, Dane or Saint Croix are more defensible positions at current market prices.