Counties / South Dakota / Corson County

Corson County, SD

FIPS 46031 · population 3,806 · outside every metro area

$175k
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
$175k
▲ 3.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$496
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
$929
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.2%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$70k
Surveyed gross rent$496
Rent burden 30%+28.1%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
17.0%vacant
1,359estimated housing units
Occupied tenure40.9% renter
owner 59.1%renter 40.9%
Structure mix84.0% single-family
Single-family 84.0%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 11.8%Other 4.1%
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 jobs755▲ 0.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments65annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$977▲ 5.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities60.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.0%WEEKLY WAGE+5.4%Trade, transportation, and utilities60.5%
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

Corson County presents a thin-evidence, low-scale underwriting question: Zillow's county median home value of $175,212 in 2026-06 was up 3.24% year over year, but that alone does not establish durable resale or rental support. Buyers needing dependable lease-up, exit liquidity, or comparable-sales depth should investigate rather than treat the measured value movement as a broad market signal. No FHFA annual index is published, so no repeat-transaction appreciation series can corroborate or challenge Zillow's direction.

02Housing economics

Housing economics remain unpriced on the income side. Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed from the value; HUD's $929 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot substitute. The effective property-tax rate is 1.45%, with median annual tax of $1,009, a carrying-cost input that must be tied to parcel assessment and tax bills rather than the county median value. No Realtor.com listing price, active-listing, days-on-market, or price-reduction figures are supplied for its 2026-06 inventory period, leaving visible supply and seller-concession conditions unmeasured.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed and sample-sensitive. Tax-return migration showed 34 more movers leaving than arriving, and the average-income gap was negative $18,617; this constrains a simple in-migration narrative but does not measure tenant demand. In 2025 QCEW, county workplaces supported 755 covered jobs, unchanged year over year, while average covered-worker weekly wage was $977, up 5.39%. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Investor participation was 50% of purchase mortgages, but that share reflects only 2 purchases; it indicates potential buyer competition without establishing broad investor depth.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the primary nonfinancial constraint: modeled annual climate loss is 0.20% of building value, an expected-loss ratio rather than a parcel insurance quote. Check flood zone, elevation, claims, deductible, replacement cost, and insurance availability at the address. Missing market rent prevents yield testing; missing FHFA prevents an independent repeat-sales check; and missing listing metrics prevent a supply/liquidity read. Underwriters also need property condition, lease terms, assessment, and flood-insurance evidence before applying county signals to an asset.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Corson 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
McLaughlin city683Bullhead CDP294Little Eagle CDP275Kenel CDP163Wakpala CDP144McIntosh city80Morristown town76
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
    McLaughlin cityIncorporated place
    683
  2. 02
    Bullhead CDPCensus-designated place
    294
  3. 03
    Little Eagle CDPCensus-designated place
    275
  4. 04
    Kenel CDPCensus-designated place
    163
  5. 05
    Wakpala CDPCensus-designated place
    144
  6. 06
    McIntosh cityIncorporated place
    80
  7. 07
    Morristown townIncorporated place
    76

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

0.198% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.45%

$1,009 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-34

34 in · 68 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$18,617

$29,471 arriving · $48,088 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors50.0%

1 of 2 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. Published value growth may not translate into an executable exit because listing-market and FHFA evidence are absent.
  2. No market rent is published, so revenue, gross yield, and lease-up support cannot be tested.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and parcel-level insurance terms may materially alter carrying costs.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

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

Does the record provide listing-market liquidity evidence?

No. Realtor.com listing price, active listings, days on market, and price-reduced share are not published.

What employment series is available?

QCEW reports annual covered jobs at workplaces in the county; it is not resident employment or unemployment.