Cheyenne’s decision frame starts with Zillow city measures: ZHVI typical home value is $391,685.47 and ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,493.99 monthly. The implied gross yield is 4.58% before every operating cost and financing. ZHVI equals 4.97x ACS median household income, while annualized ZORI equals 22.74% of that income. These affordability screens do not establish achievable property rent, borrower qualification or net cash flow.
The city has 30,807 housing units, and renters occupy 32.92% of occupied units. ACS reports a $333,700 median value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $1,118 median gross rent for surveyed renter-occupied housing; gross rent includes contract rent plus selected utilities. ACS covers occupied housing and a different survey period, whereas Zillow provides typical city market measures. Never average the two sources into a property value or rent estimate.
Direct city depth is mixed. ACS says 49.03% of renter households meet its rent-burden threshold, while single-family structures represent 74.99% of housing units and large multifamily structures 4.20%. Among vacant units, 237 were classified for rent and 280 as seasonal. These survey categories do not measure currently available investment inventory or prove leasing speed. Population was 2.57% higher across the two overlapping ACS five-year vintages; that is not an annual rate or a five-year event count, and boundary changes could contribute. Median household income is $78,839, poverty is 8.74%, and unemployment is 3.70%; these are descriptive demand constraints, not causal evidence about rent performance.
At the county scope, Laramie County’s effective property-tax rate was 0.568%, an expense input rather than a city rate. At the county scope, Laramie County’s Realtor median market time was 42 days and 9.85% of listings were price-reduced, offering negotiation context without measuring a specific asset. At the metro scope, broader Cheyenne had 1.8 months of supply and price drops on 22.71% of listings; these metro measures are not city inventory. At the metro scope, employment decreased 0.08%, a broad labor signal rather than a city outcome. At the national scope, the Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.66%, framing financing conditions but not a borrower quote.
The main limitation is granularity: city typicals and ACS surveys cannot resolve an address; county, metro and national indicators have wider geographies and different denominators. Verify property rent comps, concessions, lease terms, utility responsibility, taxes, insurance and hazard quotes, inspection findings, capital needs, management, vacancy, financing and resale liquidity. Rebuild yield from actual price and collectible rent, deducting every operating and capital cost.