Counties / Kansas / Atchison County

Atchison County, KS

FIPS 20005 · population 16,208 · outside every metro area

$191k
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
$191k
▲ 9.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$765
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
$877
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+65.4%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+9.5%FHFA HPI2025−0.1%
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$146k
Surveyed gross rent$765
Rent burden 30%+44.6%
Median year built1968
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
15.9%vacant
6,817estimated housing units
Occupied tenure28.1% renter
owner 71.9%renter 28.1%
Structure mix80.6% single-family
Single-family 80.6%20+ units 5.7%Mobile home 6.9%Other 6.9%
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 jobs5,677▲ 2.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments418annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,010▲ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services31.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.0%WEEKLY WAGE+1.3%Education and health services31.7%
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

Atchison County’s underwriting tension is a sharp Zillow price increase alongside a slightly negative FHFA reading, while rent evidence is absent. Zillow’s median home value is $190,733, up 9.54% year over year. FHFA’s repeat-transaction index fell 0.11% year over year but rose 65.39% cumulatively over five years; it is an appreciation index, not a home value, and its observation is not the same period as Zillow’s. This merits investigation by investors seeking rent-supported purchases and caution for anyone treating recent price movement as a reliable valuation signal.

02Housing economics

Gross yield cannot be computed because market rent is not published. HUD’s $877 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent, so it cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 1.32%, with median annual tax of $1,925. The record lacks a current MLS asking price, closed-sale price, insurance premium, operating expenses, financing terms, and property-level tax detail. An investor can include the tax burden in a price review, but cannot test cash yield, rent coverage, or a complete net return.

03Demand & competition

Demand and buyer competition are mixed. QCEW reports annual covered employment up 1.99%, but this is workplace employment, not resident employment; Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration was net -19, while average AGI per moving household was $442 higher for inflows than outflows, so the small flow imbalance is not paired with lower measured inflow income. Realtor.com shows 45 active listings; those are visible supply, not closed-sale evidence or proof of demand. Investor purchases were 25 of 168, or 14.88%, meaning participation is measurable but not dominant.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss is 0.13% of building value per year, and inland flood is the dominant hazard; that combination requires property-level flood-zone, drainage, insurance, elevation, and claims checks. Missing market rent, property-level loss, and insurance terms prevent a gross-yield calculation and a complete hazard-adjusted operating budget. Closed-sale comps, lease terms, vacancy, repairs, utilities, and financing are also missing; obtain them rather than infer demand from FMR or listings. County evidence cannot establish a property’s condition or fit with an individual investment mandate.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Atchison 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
Atchison city10.8KEffingham city786Lancaster city325Muscotah city141Huron city70
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

5 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Atchison cityIncorporated place
    10,785
  2. 02
    Effingham cityIncorporated place
    786
  3. 03
    Lancaster cityIncorporated place
    325
  4. 04
    Muscotah cityIncorporated place
    141
  5. 05
    Huron cityIncorporated place
    70

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

0.134% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.32%

$1,925 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-19

366 in · 385 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$442

$51,063 arriving · $50,621 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors14.9%

25 of 168 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings45▲ 23.6% year over year
Median days on market75▲ 51.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced14.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 0.4% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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. Unpublished market rent and missing operating costs could leave the purchase without supportable yield or coverage.
  2. Zillow’s price gain conflicts with FHFA’s annual direction, and listing measures are not closed-sale evidence; the valuation thesis could be overstated.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and missing property-level insurance and loss terms could make carrying costs differ materially from the county model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is a gross rental yield available?

No. Market rent is not published; the $877 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent, so gross yield cannot be computed.

How should the FHFA evidence be interpreted?

It is a repeat-transaction appreciation index, distinct in method and supplied period from Zillow’s measure; it is not a dollar home value.

What investor participation is recorded?

Non-occupants accounted for 25 of 168 purchase mortgages, or 14.88% of purchases.