Saint Louis County

Saint Louis County, Minnesota posts a gross rent-to-price ratio of 7.7% and a cap rate of 5.02% at the modeled purchase price of $244,298. That cap rate clears the threshold most buy-and-hold investors consider the floor for acceptable yield, but the all-in cash-flow picture is tighter than the cap rate implies. Running a 6.85% mortgage on an 80% LTV purchase produces a monthly mortgage payment of $1,281. Add $551 in estimated expenses and you get total monthly outlays that exceed the $1,573 median rent by $258, landing the cash-on-cash return at negative 5.51%. That gap is real and should be modeled explicitly. The appreciation score of 95 out of 100, combined with 7.84% year-over-year home price growth, tells you the market is priced more like an appreciation play than a cash-flow engine at current financing rates. The overall score of 74 out of 100 and a national percentile of 93rd reflect a market that punches well above its size.

Given those dynamics, this market is best suited to the appreciation-oriented buyer who can either bring more equity to the table or wait for rate relief to close the cash-flow gap. An investor putting down 30-35% instead of 20% meaningfully reduces the monthly mortgage drag and may flip the cash-on-cash into positive territory depending on actual rents achieved. The affordability index of 75 and a median household income of $66,491 suggest a tenant base that is not stretched thin, which supports rental demand and collection stability. The stability score of 50 out of 100 is the number worth watching: it signals above-average variance in this market, so an appreciation buyer needs to be confident in a multi-year hold horizon rather than a quick repositioning strategy. Value-add operators looking for discount-to-replacement-cost deals at $244,298 median may find that home price growth of nearly 8% annually compresses that entry window faster than in slower-moving markets.

The combined monthly tax and insurance burden runs $301 on a median-priced property, which accounts for the $230 property tax component (based on a 1.13% state-average effective rate) and $71 for insurance. Minnesota's property tax rate at 1.13% is within normal range per the Tax Foundation's 2024 figures, so it does not create an unusual headwind relative to peer markets, though the note applies: this is a state-average estimate, and actual rates at the county or township level in Saint Louis County may differ. At $301 per month, the tax-and-insurance line is not the primary cash-flow problem here; the issue is the cost of debt at today's rates. Any investor underwriting this market should model both at current rates and at 5.5-6% to understand the sensitivity of cash flow to rate improvement.

The concentration risk in a single-industry or single-employer town is a legitimate concern in any county with a stability score of 50. Saint Louis County's largest city, Duluth, has historically leaned on mining, healthcare, and higher education as economic pillars, but no specific economic anchor data was provided in this dataset, so that conversation belongs in your own due diligence rather than here. What the data does show is a population of 200,122, which is large enough to support a diversified rental market without the single-tenant-type concentration risk that afflicts smaller rural counties. The affordability score of 75 also suggests that rents are not so elevated relative to local incomes that a demand cliff is imminent.

Compared to the neighboring counties in this dataset, Saint Louis County carries the highest median home price of the group at $244,298, ahead of Rock County at $260,804 being the only exception, yet matches Rock County's overall score of 74. Wilkin County at $209,079 and Lake of the Woods County at $209,243 both score 73-74 overall at roughly $35,000 lower entry points. Swift County and Renville County sit in the $187,000-$188,000 range, with Renville scoring 75 overall, one point above Saint Louis. If pure cash-flow improvement through lower purchase price is the goal, Swift or Renville at $187,000-$188,000 offer lower basis with comparable or slightly better overall scores, though likely with far less liquidity and a smaller rental market. Saint Louis County justifies its price premium primarily through its superior appreciation score of 95, its population base, and the relative depth of its rental market. Choose Saint Louis over its neighbors when your underwrite depends on price appreciation and tenant demand from a real urban core; choose Renville or Swift when the business plan requires current cash-flow and you can accept thinner exit liquidity.