Counties / Virginia / Colonial Heights city

Colonial Heights city, VA

FIPS 51570 · population 18,352 · part of Richmond, VA

$286k
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
$286k
▲ 0.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,598
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
6.7%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,655
market rent is 0.97x 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+59.9%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.3%FHFA HPI2025+4.7%
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$247k
Surveyed gross rent$1,234
Rent burden 30%+55.5%
Median year built1970
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
7.2%vacant
8,114estimated housing units
Occupied tenure31.9% renter
owner 68.1%renter 31.9%
Structure mix82.7% single-family
Single-family 82.7%20+ units 2.3%Mobile home 0.5%Other 14.5%
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 jobs9,686▼ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments742annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$864▲ 3.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities34.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+3.6%Trade, transportation, and utilities34.5%
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

Colonial Heights city presents a valuation-versus-income tension. Zillow reported a $286,282 median home value in 2026-06, alongside $1,598 monthly median asking rent and a supplied 6.70% gross yield before costs. The 0.30% Zillow year-over-year value change makes this a county to investigate for current income rather than price acceleration; cautious buyers should verify whether a specific asset can retain that rent after taxes, insurance, repairs, and vacancy.

02Housing economics

The rent measure is market asking rent; it is not HUD’s two-bedroom FMR. Market rent equals 96.60% of that payment standard, so FMR should not be substituted into yield or revenue underwriting. The effective property-tax rate is 0.84%, and median annual tax is $2,071, providing county-level carrying-cost context but not a parcel bill. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 4.72% year over year and 59.94% over five years. It confirms positive price direction, but it is an index rather than a home value, and its vintage and method cannot be merged with Zillow’s change.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed. Tax-return migration netted 58 households, but arriving movers averaged $5,040 less AGI than departing movers, a calculation from the supplied averages; this is a composition flag rather than proof of local purchasing power. Investor purchase mortgages comprised 7.72% of purchases, indicating a limited observed non-owner-occupant share rather than all investor activity. QCEW annual covered workplace employment declined 0.07%. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector; QCEW is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure, so tenant-demand support needs direct verification.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected climate loss equals 0.12% of building value annually. This is county-level modeled exposure, not a parcel flood determination or insurance quote. The supplied record does not publish Realtor.com figures for listing prices, active inventory, marketing time, or price reductions, preventing conclusions on visible MLS supply or seller concessions. Missing property-level flood zone, insurance, lease comparables, vacancy, operating expenses, and financing terms also prevent a net-yield, debt-service, or parcel-risk conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Colonial Heights city

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
Colonial Heights city18.4K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

1 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Colonial Heights cityIncorporated place
    18,352

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

0.117% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.84%

$2,071 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+58

880 in · 822 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$5,040

$46,349 arriving · $51,389 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.7%

20 of 259 mortgages

investorother financed
Same metro

The other counties in Richmond, VA

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
Colonial Heights city18,352$286k$1,5986.7%inland flooding
Chesterfield County377,869$417k$1,9265.5%inland flooding
Henrico County335,744$406k$1,8405.4%inland flooding
Richmond city229,359$375k$1,6775.4%inland flooding
Hanover County112,879$465k$2,1105.5%inland flooding
Prince George County43,146$363k$1,6585.5%inland flooding
Petersburg city33,537$202k$1,3257.9%inland flooding
Powhatan County31,555$505k$1,8924.5%inland flooding
Dinwiddie County28,191$305kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Market asking rent may not be achievable at a specific property after lease-up and vacancy.
  2. Parcel-level flood exposure and insurance costs may exceed the county-level modeled hazard measure.
  3. Unpublished MLS inventory and seller-concession figures could reveal weaker listing conditions than the county record shows.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Does the record provide a market-rent and yield starting point?

Yes. It supplies median asking rent and a gross yield, but not property-level operating expenses or vacancy.

Does migration establish stronger local purchasing power?

No. The record shows net in-migration, but arriving movers had lower average AGI than departing movers.

What does the record show about investor purchase participation?

It reports a minority share of purchase mortgages to non-occupants and does not measure all-cash investor activity.