Counties / South Dakota / Davison County

Davison County, SD

FIPS 46035 · population 19,952 · part of Mitchell, SD

$258k
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
$258k
▲ 2.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$983
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.6%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$936
market rent is 1.05x 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+46.5%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.2%FHFA HPI2025+2.8%
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$206k
Surveyed gross rent$847
Rent burden 30%+38.8%
Median year built1972
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
7.1%vacant
9,579estimated housing units
Occupied tenure38.5% renter
owner 61.5%renter 38.5%
Structure mix65.8% single-family
Single-family 65.8%20+ units 7.1%Mobile home 5.2%Other 21.8%
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 jobs12,474▼ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments849annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,104▲ 7.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities24.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+7.7%Trade, transportation, and utilities24.1%
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

Davison County’s decision tension is a reported 4.57% gross yield against carrying costs and a thin evidence base on deal-level liquidity. At the June 2026 Zillow county observation, median home value was $258,400 and median asking rent was $983 per month. Investors able to verify a property’s expenses and rent should investigate; those requiring demonstrated resale liquidity should be cautious. The market asking rent equals 105% of HUD’s two-bedroom FMR, but FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent.

02Housing economics

Price signals agree directionally but cannot be merged. Zillow’s county value was 2.16% higher year over year in its June 2026 observation. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 2.81% annually and 46.53% cumulatively over five years; it is an appreciation index, not a home value. The effective property-tax rate is 1.23%, and both taxes and other operating costs sit outside the reported gross yield. The record does not publish unit-level expenses, so net yield cannot be underwritten.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed rather than a clean absorption signal. In 2025 QCEW, annual covered employment at county workplaces declined 0.57%, while the covered-worker average weekly wage increased 7.71%; this is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration showed a net outflow of 54 households, and average AGI of incoming movers trailed outgoing movers by $4,291. Investor purchase mortgages accounted for 15.7% of purchases, or 35 of 223, indicating buyer participation without establishing neighborhood-level demand.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled annual expected building-value loss is 0.13%, with inland flood the dominant hazard. This county-level modeled ratio is not parcel exposure or an insurance quote. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market, price-reduced share, and pending ratio are not published, so visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time cannot be tested. Next diligence needs parcel flood zone, elevation, insurance and mitigation terms; closed-sale comparables; and lease, vacancy, maintenance, and tax bills. Without them, neither net cash flow nor an exit-price conclusion is supportable.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Davison 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
Mitchell city15.6KMount Vernon city442Ethan town346Loomis CDP13
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
    Mitchell cityIncorporated place
    15,649
  2. 02
    Mount Vernon cityIncorporated place
    442
  3. 03
    Ethan townIncorporated place
    346
  4. 04
    Loomis CDPCensus-designated place
    13

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

0.127% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.23%

$2,526 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-54

540 in · 594 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$4,291

$50,096 arriving · $54,387 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors15.7%

35 of 223 mortgages

investorother financed
Same metro

The other counties in Mitchell, SD

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
Davison County19,952$258k$9834.6%inland flooding
Hanson County3,472n/an/an/ainland flooding
Sanborn County2,384$235kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Operating costs, insurance, vacancy, and property-specific taxes could reduce gross yield materially because they are not published.
  2. County-level migration outflow and lower incoming-mover income may not describe the specific rental submarket.
  3. County modeled flood loss may differ substantially from parcel exposure, insurance availability, and mitigation cost.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from supplied market rent?

Yes. Market asking rent is published, and the record reports a 4.57% gross yield before costs.

What do the FHFA figures measure?

They measure a repeat-transaction appreciation index: 2.81% annual change in 2025 and 46.53% cumulative change over five years, not a dollar home value.

Are MLS supply and marketing-time measures available?

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