Decatur's current Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $107,596 and its ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,019 per month. Their implied gross yield is 11.4%, calculated as annual ZORI divided by ZHVI and before every operating and financing cost. ZHVI equals 2.1x ACS median household income, while annualized ZORI equals 23.7% of that income. Those citywide affordability markers support screening, not a property cash-flow conclusion.
City housing stock totals 36,018 units, with a 14.2% citywide vacancy rate; renters occupy 37.1% of occupied units. This establishes meaningful rental tenure but cannot establish that a particular unit will lease promptly. ACS reports $845 as median gross rent, including contract rent and selected utilities, and a $99,600 owner-reported median home value for surveyed occupied housing. Those ACS measures differ in definition and period from Zillow's market rent and typical value and should not be blended.
The city rent-burden share is 41.9%. Single-family units are 76.4% of all housing units, while units in large multifamily structures are 8.4%. Of all city vacancies, 31.3% are classified as for rent, a reason code that does not measure available investment inventory. Population was 3.5% lower across the overlapping ACS vintages; this is not an annual rate and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $51,592, with a 19.4% poverty rate and an 8.3% unemployment rate. These survey indicators describe housing form and demand constraints; they neither prove leasing velocity nor establish causal relationships.
At the county scope, Macon County reports a 2.12% property-tax rate, a 31-day median marketing time, and a 19.8% price-reduced share of active listings; county evidence frames carrying cost and liquidity but does not measure Decatur. At the metro scope, the Decatur metro has jobs down 0.5%, 1.7 months of supply and a 35.3% price-drop share; metro conditions cover the broader market, not the city alone. At the national scope, the national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a benchmark rather than a city or property quote.
The simple yield omits taxes, insurance, repairs, capital work, management, utilities, vacancy, transaction costs and debt service; cross-source timing also limits direct comparison. Before acting, obtain an address-specific rent roll or lease, current rent comparables, inspection and systems history, utility responsibility, insurance and hazard quotes, title and zoning review, and a lender quote. Reconcile the parcel's actual assessment and tax bill to the county tax rate, test realistic downtime and exit costs, and avoid treating survey vacancy or broader-market liquidity as a property forecast.