Counties / Kentucky / Boyd County

Boyd County, KY

FIPS 21019 · population 47,911 · part of Huntington, WV

$136k
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
$136k
▼ 6.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,050
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
9.3%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$973
market rent is 1.08x the 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+38.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−6.1%FHFA HPI2025+5.8%
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$131k
Surveyed gross rent$849
Rent burden 30%+47.8%
Median year built1972
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
11.2%vacant
21,742estimated housing units
Occupied tenure29.8% renter
owner 70.2%renter 29.8%
Structure mix75.4% single-family
Single-family 75.4%20+ units 3.1%Mobile home 11.2%Other 10.4%
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 jobs26,466▲ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,798annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,187▲ 4.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services34.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.8%WEEKLY WAGE+4.2%Education and health services34.1%
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

Boyd County presents a valuation-direction conflict: Zillow's 2026-06 county median home value is $135,878, down 6.09% year over year, while FHFA's 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.78%. These are different vintages and methods—not a common growth measure—and neither is a transaction appraisal. The case suits an investigator who can verify current comparables and unit rents; a buyer relying on broad appreciation or a smooth resale exit should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Against that Zillow value, published median asking market rent is $1,050 per month, and the supplied gross yield is 9.27% before costs. This is measured market rent. HUD's two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot validate the yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.88%; carrying-cost review still needs insurance, flood coverage, vacancy, repairs, financing and assessment detail, so net yield is not established.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com's MLS evidence shows active listings rose 27.78%, 15.86% were price-reduced, and pending listings equaled 76.81% of active listings. These are visible supply, seller-concession and pipeline measures—not closed prices or standalone proof of buyer demand. Net tax-return migration was 65 households, while in-movers reported average AGI $3,053 above those moving out; investor purchase mortgages accounted for 12.14% of 420 total purchases. The largest disclosed private QCEW supersector is education and health services; QCEW is workplace covered employment, not the whole economy.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.16%; this is a modeled ratio, not a property-specific loss or insurance quote. It changes screening toward parcel flood exposure, deductibles, exclusions and replacement-cost coverage. Next checks are closed-sale comparables, property-level rent rolls and lease terms, tax assessments, flood-insurance quotes, condition, vacancy and repair records. Without them, resale value, net operating income and debt-service coverage cannot be underwritten.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Boyd 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
Ashland city21.3KWestwood CDP4.5KCatlettsburg city1.6KCannonsburg CDP1.1KIronville CDP411
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
    Ashland cityIncorporated place
    21,295
  2. 02
    Westwood CDPCensus-designated place
    4,473
  3. 03
    Catlettsburg cityIncorporated place
    1,557
  4. 04
    Cannonsburg CDPCensus-designated place
    1,129
  5. 05
    Ironville CDPCensus-designated place
    411

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

0.159% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.88%

$1,156 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+65

1,143 in · 1,078 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$3,053

$50,409 arriving · $47,356 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors12.1%

51 of 420 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 listings104▲ 27.8% year over year
Median days on market45▼ 8.1% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.9%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 9.6% year over year

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

Same metro

The other counties in Huntington, WV

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Boyd County47,911$136k$1,0509.3%inland flooding
Cabell County92,739$172k$1,0627.4%inland flooding
Putnam County57,177$253k$1,3586.4%inland flooding
Lawrence County56,819$148kn/an/ainland flooding
Wayne County38,164$148kn/an/ainland flooding
Greenup County35,501$159kn/an/ainland flooding
Carter County26,341$161kn/an/ainland flooding
Lawrence County16,077$145kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Current closed-sale comparables may validate the Zillow decline rather than the FHFA index's direction.
  2. MLS supply and seller reductions may produce weaker realized pricing than the pending pipeline suggests.
  3. Flood exposure, insurance terms, condition, vacancy and repairs may erase the stated pre-cost gross yield.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What is the dominant county hazard?

Inland flood.

Which private supersector is largest among the disclosed QCEW categories?

Education and health services.

Is HUD Fair Market Rent a market asking-rent estimate in this record?

No. It is identified as a two-bedroom payment standard.