Counties / Nebraska / Boone County

Boone County, NE

FIPS 31011 · population 5,356 · outside every metro area

$302k
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
$302k
▲ 5.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$850
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
$961
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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+52.0%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+5.1%FHFA HPI2025+0.2%
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$174k
Surveyed gross rent$850
Rent burden 30%+35.1%
Median year built1957
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.2%vacant
2,555estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.1% renter
owner 81.9%renter 18.1%
Structure mix91.3% single-family
Single-family 91.3%20+ units 0.6%Mobile home 1.6%Other 6.5%
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 jobs2,438▼ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments256annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,024▲ 4.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities32.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+4.9%Trade, transportation, and utilities32.1%
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

Boone County presents a price-validation tension: Zillow’s county median home value was $301,979, up 5.06% in the observation labeled 2026-06, while FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI rose 0.19% in its annual observation labeled 2025. FHFA also reports 52.04% cumulative growth on its supplied multiyear measure, but it is an index rather than a home value and cannot be blended with Zillow’s differently timed measure. Buyers dependent on resale validation or rental cash flow should investigate; leverage-sensitive buyers should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The HUD FMR is $961 per month, a payment standard rather than an estimate of asking rent, and cannot substitute for rent. The effective property-tax rate is 1.03%, with a $1,781 median annual tax. Those carrying-cost facts matter against the acquisition price, but no assessed value, insurance cost, or property-specific tax bill is supplied.

03Demand & competition

QCEW records 2,438 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, down 0.57%; it is not resident employment or an unemployment measure. The covered-worker average weekly wage was $1,024. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not a description of the whole economy. Tax-return migration shows 95 households moved in and 101 moved out, while incoming average AGI exceeded outgoing average AGI by $4,397. Investors accounted for 7 of 33 purchase mortgages, a calculated 21.21% share, indicating a meaningful participant group but not the terms or condition of its purchases.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss is 0.21% of building value per year, with inland flood identified as the dominant hazard. This county-level model does not establish parcel exposure, flood-insurance availability, premiums, or prior damage. Realtor.com MLS listing-price, active-listing, days-on-market, and price-reduction figures are not published in this record, preventing a current view of visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time. Next checks are property-level flood maps and insurance quotes, achieved rents and lease terms, operating costs, and closed-sale comparables.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Boone 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
Albion city1.8KSt. Edward city588Cedar Rapids village493Petersburg village397Loretto CDP99Primrose village60Raeville CDP0
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
    Albion cityIncorporated place
    1,822
  2. 02
    St. Edward cityIncorporated place
    588
  3. 03
    Cedar Rapids villageIncorporated place
    493
  4. 04
    Petersburg villageIncorporated place
    397
  5. 05
    Loretto CDPCensus-designated place
    99
  6. 06
    Primrose villageIncorporated place
    60
  7. 07
    Raeville CDPCensus-designated place
    0

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

0.209% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.03%

$1,781 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-6

95 in · 101 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$4,397

$55,011 arriving · $50,614 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors21.2%

7 of 33 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. Property-level flood exposure and insurance costs may differ materially from the county climate model.
  2. Unpublished achieved rents, lease terms, and operating costs may make the income case weaker or stronger than the county record suggests.
  3. The two price measures use different methods and periods, so either may be a poor guide to a specific property’s resale value.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR is a payment standard rather than market asking rent.

Do Zillow and FHFA measure the same price period?

No. Zillow is labeled 2026-06, while the FHFA annual HPI observation is labeled 2025; FHFA is a repeat-transaction index, not a home-value estimate.

What is the reported investor share of purchase mortgages?

Investors accounted for 7 of 33 purchase mortgages, or 21.21%.