Counties / Virginia / Clarke County

Clarke County, VA

FIPS 51043 · population 15,216 · part of Washington, DC

$579k
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
$579k
▲ 3.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,850
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
3.8%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$2,246
market rent is 0.82x 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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+54.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.1%FHFA HPI2025+7.9%
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$550k
Surveyed gross rent$1,371
Rent burden 30%+67.5%
Median year built1980
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
10.1%vacant
6,553estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.5% renter
owner 81.5%renter 18.5%
Structure mix92.3% single-family
Single-family 92.3%20+ units 4.0%Mobile home 1.4%Other 2.3%
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 jobs4,138▲ 6.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments478annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,102▲ 4.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services18.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+6.6%WEEKLY WAGE+4.0%Education and health services18.7%
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

Clarke County’s underwriting tension is a $578,690 Zillow median home value against a $1,850 monthly median asking rent and a stated 3.84% gross yield before costs. Income-focused purchasers should be cautious; buyers able to document property-level costs and renter depth should investigate. Zillow’s value was up 3.11%, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.91%. This is directional corroboration only: FHFA is an appreciation index, not a home value, and the methods and vintages should not be blended.

02Housing economics

The published market rent is 82.4% of HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent. HUD FMR is a payment standard rather than evidence of asking rent, so it must not substitute for market rent or yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.48%, a carrying-cost anchor; the stated gross yield excludes tax, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing and management. Property-level operating expenses, insurance quotes and tax-assessment detail are not published, preventing net-yield underwriting.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS snapshot shows 52 active listings, 42 median days on market, and 19.28% of listings price-reduced. These are visible supply, marketing-time and seller-concession measures—not closed sales or independent proof of buyer demand. The 2025 QCEW annual covered-workplace record reports gains in covered employment and average covered-worker weekly wage; education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Positive net migration paired with higher incoming-mover AGI supports a demand screen, while investor mortgages were 3.31% of purchases, offering limited evidence of investor-led competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss is 0.11% of building value per year; this county-level model needs parcel flood-zone, elevation, claims, mitigation and insurance review before translating into expenses. Missing closed-sale comparables, rent segmentation, vacancy, lease renewals and property-specific condition prevent conclusions on entry price, tenant durability or net returns. Neither county migration nor MLS listings identifies the subject property’s submarket or household mix.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Clarke 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
Berryville town4.7KShenandoah Farms CDP*4.2KBoyce town891Shenandoah Retreat CDP592
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

4 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Berryville townIncorporated place
    4,707
  2. 02
    Shenandoah Farms CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    4,179
  3. 03
    Boyce townIncorporated place
    891
  4. 04
    Shenandoah Retreat CDPCensus-designated place
    592

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

0.114% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.48%

$2,657 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+72

614 in · 542 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$24,159

$85,021 arriving · $60,862 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors3.3%

5 of 151 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 listings52▲ 28.4% year over year
Median days on market42▲ 38.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced19.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 4.5% 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 Washington, DC

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
Clarke County15,216$579k$1,8503.8%inland flooding
Fairfax County1,147,837$779k$2,5423.9%inland flooding
Montgomery County1,065,949$627k$2,3464.5%inland flooding
Prince George's County959,754$434k$1,9515.4%inland flooding
District of Columbia681,294$579k$2,5325.2%inland flooding
Prince William County488,880$592k$2,2824.6%inland flooding
Loudoun County432,998$810k$2,9174.3%inland flooding
Frederick County287,048$509k$2,2175.2%inland flooding
Arlington County236,254$824k$2,7224.0%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Parcel-level inland-flood exposure or insurance pricing could overwhelm the pre-expense gross yield.
  2. Unpublished operating costs, vacancy and property condition could make net cash flow weaker than the stated gross yield.
  3. County-level migration and workplace employment gains may not translate into rental demand for the subject property or submarket.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What rent measure supports the stated gross yield?

The record supplies a median monthly asking market rent; it is distinct from HUD Fair Market Rent.

What does the Realtor.com snapshot establish?

It provides MLS listing-market evidence on visible supply, marketing time and price reductions, not closed-sale pricing or buyer demand.

Which climate hazard requires property screening?

Inland flood is the named dominant hazard, requiring parcel-level exposure and insurance review.