Counties / Iowa / Adair County

Adair County, IA

FIPS 19001 · population 7,460 · outside every metro area

$204k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$204k
▲ 9.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$799
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$926
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+48.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+9.1%FHFA HPI2025−8.8%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$160k
Surveyed gross rent$799
Rent burden 30%+33.2%
Median year built1958
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.3%vacant
3,568estimated housing units
Occupied tenure26.1% renter
owner 74.0%renter 26.1%
Structure mix88.1% single-family
Single-family 88.1%20+ units 0.5%Mobile home 1.8%Other 9.6%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs3,350▲ 10.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments330annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,186▲ 16.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities24.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+10.3%WEEKLY WAGE+16.0%Trade, transportation, and utilities24.0%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Adair County pits a higher Zillow value signal against a declining repeat-sales index, with no rent evidence to settle entry economics. Appreciation-led buyers should be cautious; operators able to verify lease-up, taxes, and flood exposure should investigate. Zillow’s county median home value was $203,549 in June 2026, up 9.06% year over year, while FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI fell 8.77% in annual 2025 data. Different vintages and methods mean they cannot form one growth rate; FHFA is not a dollar home value.

02Housing economics

No county market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The $926 two-bedroom HUD FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. The 1.28% effective property-tax rate is a known carrying-cost input, but parcel assessments, insurance, financing, and maintenance costs are not published. Achieved rents and unit/property tax bills are needed to assess cash flow and price-to-rent support.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed but bounded. QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces rose 10.27%; it is neither resident employment nor unemployment. Trade, transportation, and utilities—the largest disclosed private supersector—accounts for 24.01% of private covered jobs, an industry concentration to test at the tenant level. Tax-return movers were nearly balanced: 191 in and 190 out. Inbound movers’ average AGI exceeded outbound by a calculated $5,498, but this one-household net flow does not establish rental absorption. Non-occupants accounted for 4% of 50 purchase mortgages, limited observed non-owner participation rather than a measure of all buyers.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard. Modeled climate loss equals 0.15% of building value per year, a county-level expected-loss ratio, not a property loss estimate. Reconcile it with site flood maps, elevation, insurance terms, and replacement cost. Realtor.com June 2026 MLS measures—median listing price, active inventory, days on market, and price-reduced share—are not published, preventing a read on visible supply, asking-price concessions, and marketing time. Missing market rent, vacancy, closed-sale comparables, and property-specific hazard data prevent defensible yield, absorption, and asset-level risk conclusions.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Adair County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Greenfield city1.9KStuart city*1.7KAdair city*830Fontanelle city615Orient city448Casey city*381Bridgewater city124
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

7 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Greenfield cityIncorporated place
    1,894
  2. 02
    Stuart cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    1,655
  3. 03
    Adair cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    830
  4. 04
    Fontanelle cityIncorporated place
    615
  5. 05
    Orient cityIncorporated place
    448
  6. 06
    Casey cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    381
  7. 07
    Bridgewater cityIncorporated place
    124

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.150% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.28%

$2,050 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+1

191 in · 190 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$5,498

$48,314 arriving · $42,816 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.0%

2 of 50 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Closed-sale comparables are absent, leaving the conflicting Zillow and FHFA price signals unresolved at the property level.
  2. Missing market rent, vacancy, and property expense details could materially change cash-flow conclusions.
  3. The county climate-loss ratio may not represent a specific parcel’s flood exposure, insurability, or replacement-cost risk.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. County market rent is not published, and HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market asking rent.

Are the supplied price indicators aligned?

No. Zillow shows a year-over-year county home-value increase in June 2026, while FHFA reports a repeat-transaction HPI decline for annual 2025; they use different methods and periods.

How much observed purchase-mortgage activity involved non-occupants?

Non-occupants accounted for 2 of 50 purchase mortgages, or 4%.