Counties / Texas / Culberson County

Culberson County, TX

FIPS 48109 · population 2,195 · 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
▲ 18.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$1,043
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
$1,015
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+18.1%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$79k
Surveyed gross rent$1,043
Rent burden 30%+8.3%
Median year built1975
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
20.9%vacant
1,097estimated housing units
Occupied tenure29.8% renter
owner 70.2%renter 29.8%
Structure mix71.9% single-family
Single-family 71.9%20+ units 2.8%Mobile home 23.4%Other 1.8%
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 jobs1,588▲ 2.7% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments108annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,793▲ 0.3% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities22.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.7%WEEKLY WAGE+0.3%Trade, transportation, and utilities22.4%
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

Culberson County presents a valuation-versus-income tension: Zillow’s county median home value in 2026-06 was $175,239, up 18.09% year over year, while no measured market rent is published. Cash-flow underwriting is therefore unanchored despite the price signal. Cash-flow-dependent buyers warrant caution; buyers investigating basis should test property-level rents and condition. The population of 2,195 makes supplied purchase evidence a narrow read, not a market verdict. FHFA annual HPI is absent, so no repeat-transaction index can confirm or challenge Zillow’s direction.

02Housing economics

Market rent is unpublished, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,015 per month is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot substitute for rent or yield. Carrying-cost evidence is limited to a 0.97% effective property-tax rate and $769 median annual tax; insurance, maintenance, financing and assessed-value detail are not published. Separate the stated tax burden from unobserved operating costs and lease revenue.

03Demand & competition

In 2025 QCEW recorded 1,588 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, up 2.65%. It is neither resident employment nor unemployment, but is the available local worksite measure. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector; 272 jobs represented 22.35% of private covered employment, signaling concentration without describing the whole economy. Tax-return migration showed a net inflow of 27 households, and incoming movers’ average AGI exceeded outgoing movers’ by a calculated $31,615; this raises an income-composition question, not occupancy demand. Investors accounted for one of 14 purchase mortgages, or 7.14%, making competition evidence sparse rather than conclusive.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the named dominant hazard, and modeled annual climate loss equals 0.07% of building value; this is a modeled value-loss ratio, not a property-specific repair estimate. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market and reduction share are not published, preventing a read on asking-price competition, visible supply, marketing time or concessions. With absent market rent, insurance, property condition and FHFA data, the record cannot establish sale liquidity, true yield or asset-level resilience. Next checks are address-level flood and insurance terms, current comparable asking rents and executed leases, and MLS listing history.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Culberson 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
Van Horn town1.9K
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
    Van Horn townIncorporated place
    1,908

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

0.069% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.97%

$769 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+27

77 in · 50 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$31,615

$70,675 arriving · $39,060 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.1%

1 of 14 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. Market rent, operating costs and property-level insurance are unpublished, so income and expense assumptions may be wrong.
  2. Zillow’s value direction lacks FHFA HPI and MLS liquidity evidence, so it may not represent executable sale pricing.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and modeled climate loss may differ materially by address and insurance terms.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Measured market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot replace it.

What does the QCEW employment figure measure?

Annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or unemployment.

What listing-market evidence is available?

No Realtor.com MLS listing-price, inventory, marketing-time, or price-reduction figures are published.