Boone County, KY

Boone County’s decision tension is a reported 5.79% gross yield on a Zillow 2026-06 median home value of $353,626 and median monthly asking rent of $1,706, while flood exposure and carrying costs can narrow what that gross measure means. Income-focused buyers should investigate property-level rent, tax and insurance durability; buyers relying on a simple county yield should be cautious. Zillow’s rent is measured asking rent, not a lease or net-income result.

HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, so it cannot substitute for Zillow’s market-rent measure or create another yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.86%; gross yield is before taxes and other costs. The record has no insurance premium, flood-zone or deductible, financing, vacancy, maintenance, utility or operating-expense evidence, preventing a net-yield or cash-flow conclusion. County medians also cannot identify the carrying costs of a specific parcel.

Price evidence must remain separate by method and timing: FHFA’s annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 3.23%, whereas Zillow’s 2026-06 figure is a median home value. FHFA is not a dollar value, and the measures must not be averaged. Realtor.com’s MLS listing market, sharing Zillow’s 2026-06 label, showed active listings up 25.56%, while 16.05% carried price reductions. These are visible asking-market supply and seller-concession indicators, not closed prices or proof of buyer demand. QCEW reports county workplace covered employment rose 2.48%; Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy or resident employment.

Tax-return migration was net positive by 162 households, but inbound movers’ average AGI was $13,964 below outbound movers’; headcount alone therefore does not establish stronger purchasing power. The record puts investor share at 4.85% against 1,940 total purchases, a limited observed mortgage-purchase presence rather than a measure of all buyer competition. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual building-value loss is 0.09%; parcel hazard, insurance and mitigation remain unobserved. Next checks are closed-sale and lease comps, flood maps and quotes, and parcel taxes.