Counties / Kansas / Douglas County

Douglas County, KS

FIPS 20045 · population 120,302 · part of Lawrence, KS

$344k
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
$344k
▲ 3.6% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,294
▲ 5.8% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.5%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,182
market rent is 1.09x 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+49.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.6%FHFA HPI2025+5.7%
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$309k
Surveyed gross rent$1,099
Rent burden 30%+51.5%
Median year built1988
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
6.1%vacant
53,675estimated housing units
Occupied tenure49.9% renter
owner 50.1%renter 49.9%
Structure mix62.2% single-family
Single-family 62.2%20+ units 10.5%Mobile home 1.7%Other 25.6%
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 jobs50,797▼ 0.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments3,604annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,069▲ 2.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality19.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.3%WEEKLY WAGE+2.8%Leisure and hospitality19.6%
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

Douglas County’s decision tension is a positive gross-income measure against carrying-cost, liquidity and hazard uncertainty. Investors seeking income should investigate whether Zillow’s 2026-06 median $344,419 home value and $1,294 monthly median asking rent fit a target asset; the supplied 4.51% gross yield is before all costs. Caution is warranted because county medians do not establish a property’s condition, financing or achievable lease terms.

02Housing economics

The market rent is a measured asking-rent series, whereas HUD’s $1,182 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate; market rent is 9.5% higher in the supplied comparison. A 1.22% effective property-tax rate adds a known carrying-cost input, although insurance and operating expenses are not published. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.68% annually and 49.15% cumulatively over five years; it is not a home value and cannot be averaged with the separately dated Zillow observation.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s supplied MLS evidence calls for negotiation scrutiny: median listing prices were up 15.11%, active listings increased, median marketing time was 40 days, and 13.1% of listings had reductions. These are asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time and concession measures—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. In the QCEW annual record, county workplace covered employment fell 0.34% while the average weekly covered-worker wage rose; leisure and hospitality was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. This is workplace coverage, not resident employment or an outlook.

04Risk & next checks

Tax-return migration shows a net household outflow and higher average income among outbound than inbound movers, tempering reliance on headline rent alone. Investor purchase mortgages accounted for 18.14% of purchases, indicating competition in the financed-buyer channel but not a resale or rental-demand conclusion. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual expected building-value loss equals 0.11%; it is a county-level ratio, not an asset loss estimate. Vacancy, lease concessions, closed sales, insurance, expenses, debt terms and parcel flood exposure are not published, preventing net-yield, debt-coverage and property-specific hazard underwriting.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Douglas 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
Lawrence city96.1KEudora city6.1KBaldwin City city4.9KLecompton city736
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
    Lawrence cityIncorporated place
    96,051
  2. 02
    Eudora cityIncorporated place
    6,119
  3. 03
    Baldwin City cityIncorporated place
    4,911
  4. 04
    Lecompton cityIncorporated place
    736

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

0.111% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.22%

$3,776 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-157

3,886 in · 4,043 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$5,657

$54,238 arriving · $59,895 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors18.1%

215 of 1,185 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 listings233▲ 14.8% year over year
Median days on market40▲ 11.1% year over year
Listings price-reduced13.1%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 15.1% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-specific taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancy and flood exposure could materially reduce the stated gross yield.
  2. MLS listing conditions may not translate into achievable closed-sale prices or resale liquidity.
  3. County-level migration and workplace employment data may not describe demand in the target submarket or tenant segment.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Does the record provide a net yield after tax, insurance and operating expenses?

No. It supplies a gross yield and property-tax rate, but insurance and operating expenses are not published.

Can HUD Fair Market Rent be used as the county’s market asking rent?

No. The record identifies HUD Fair Market Rent as a payment standard separate from measured market asking rent.

Do the Realtor.com indicators show completed sale prices?

No. They describe MLS listings, active inventory, marketing time and price reductions rather than closed sales.