Counties / Kentucky / Breckinridge County

Breckinridge County, KY

FIPS 21027 · population 20,881 · outside every metro area

$174k
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
$174k
▼ 3.7% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$733
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
$866
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+49.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−3.7%FHFA HPI2025+3.2%
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$157k
Surveyed gross rent$733
Rent burden 30%+42.7%
Median year built1990
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
25.3%vacant
10,799estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.6% renter
owner 81.4%renter 18.6%
Structure mix67.6% single-family
Single-family 67.6%20+ units 0.7%Mobile home 27.7%Other 3.9%
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 jobs3,769▲ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments443annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$885▲ 5.1% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities30.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.3%WEEKLY WAGE+5.1%Trade, transportation, and utilities30.8%
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

Breckinridge County presents a split underwriting signal for buyers needing stable resale support. Zillow’s county median home value was $174,231, down 3.73% year over year, while FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.22%. The Zillow county observation and FHFA annual observation have distinct supplied periods and methods; the HPI is an index movement, not a home value. This conflict warrants comparable-sale verification before an exit value is set, particularly for a purchaser relying on price appreciation.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet be tested: market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $866 is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot substitute for rent. The 0.59% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, but it cannot show whether rent supports price and taxes without lease data. Inland flood is the dominant hazard; the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.17% of building value per year, not a parcel-specific loss estimate.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing market shows seller-facing friction rather than sale-price proof: median listing price rose 5.82%, with 93 active listings, 22.31% reduced, and a 12.43% pending-to-active ratio. These describe asking prices, visible supply and concessions; they do not establish closed-sale value or buyer demand. QCEW reports 3,769 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, but QCEW is neither resident employment nor unemployment.

04Risk & next checks

Tax-return migration was nearly balanced, at net 2 households, but inbound movers’ average AGI exceeded outbound movers’ by $14,054. That mix does not establish renter depth or durable housing demand. Investor purchase mortgages were 11.30% of 230 purchases: meaningful participation, but not evidence of pricing power. Next checks are market rent, vacancy and lease terms; sale comps; parcel tax bills; and flood maps, insurance quotes, and mitigation requirements. Those missing items prevent income, exit-price, and property-specific hazard underwriting.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Breckinridge 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
Hardinsburg city2.3KIrvington city1.3KCloverport city1.1K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Hardinsburg cityIncorporated place
    2,327
  2. 02
    Irvington cityIncorporated place
    1,327
  3. 03
    Cloverport cityIncorporated place
    1,133

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

0.174% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.58%

$916 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+2

464 in · 462 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$14,054

$52,558 arriving · $38,504 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.3%

26 of 230 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 listings93▲ 14.9% year over year
Median days on market69▲ 25.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced22.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 5.8% 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, vacancy, and lease evidence may not support the acquisition price and carrying costs.
  2. The conflict between Zillow value movement and FHFA index movement may leave exit pricing unresolved after sale-comparable review.
  3. County-level flood-loss modeling may differ materially from a parcel’s flood zone, insurance cost, and mitigation requirements.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be used as market rent.

What does the HUD two-bedroom FMR measure?

It is a HUD payment standard, not an estimate of county asking rent.

What does the QCEW employment figure represent?

It represents annual average covered jobs located at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.