McCone County presents a rising reported-value signal but an incomplete income and liquidity case. Zillow’s county median home value was $264,545 in 2026-06, up 7.93% year over year, while market rent is not published. It warrants investigation by buyers able to source parcel-level rents, insurance and transaction comps; buyers requiring a demonstrated county yield or broad buyer-market evidence should be cautious. Sparse purchase observations need careful interpretation.
HUD data cannot fill the income gap: the $1,548 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent. Without published market rent, gross yield cannot be computed or inferred from FMR. Carrying-cost context is an effective property-tax rate of 0.68% and median annual tax of $1,429; neither establishes a parcel’s tax bill. Zillow’s figure is a median home value, not a sale comp. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market and price-reduction data are not published, preventing a visible-supply or seller-concession read.
Workplace evidence is modest but concentrated. In 2025, QCEW records 562 annual-average covered jobs at county workplaces, 1.81% above the prior annual average; this is neither resident employment nor unemployment. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, with 167 jobs and 39.29% of private covered employment. IRS data show 28 outbound tax-return households with average AGI of $49,536, but no inbound count or income, preventing a net-migration or mover-income comparison. Among 6 reported purchase mortgages, investor share was 0%; this small mortgage-only observation does not measure cash-buyer competition.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard. Modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.08% of building value; it cannot establish a parcel’s flood exposure, insurance premium, or mitigation cost. No FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation is published, so it cannot corroborate or challenge Zillow’s direction; it would not be a dollar home value. Next checks are parcel flood maps, insurance, market-rent comps, property-level taxes, closed-sale comparables and current MLS inventory before setting value, income or exit assumptions.