Counties / South Dakota / Faulk County

Faulk County, SD

FIPS 46049 · population 2,126 · outside every metro area

$148k
ACS owner-reported value · ACS 2024 5-year
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.

ACS owner-reported value
$148k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$771
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
$950
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$148k
Surveyed gross rent$771
Rent burden 30%+30.9%
Median year built1964
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
20.5%vacant
1,085estimated housing units
Occupied tenure20.4% renter
owner 79.6%renter 20.4%
Structure mix80.1% single-family
Single-family 80.1%20+ units 5.3%Mobile home 9.0%Other 5.6%
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 jobs668▼ 2.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments129annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$873▲ 6.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services31.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.9%WEEKLY WAGE+6.7%Education and health services31.8%
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

Faulk County’s decision tension is a mainly single-family housing base against contracting covered employment and net out-migration, with insufficient current market evidence on rents or exits. Investors relying on stable lease-up, turnover, or resale liquidity should be cautious; operators able to verify unit demand and flood exposure should investigate. Only 6 of 8 evidence groups are available. No Zillow county home-value series or FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is published, so neither price direction nor an appreciation cross-check is available.

02Housing economics

The ACS 2024 5-year survey reports a $147,500 owner-reported median value for owner-occupied homes and $771 surveyed gross rent for occupied units. These are not current asking or transaction measures, cover different housing populations, and cannot be combined into yield. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $950 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market rent. The 0.62% effective property-tax rate and $916 median annual tax cover only part of carrying costs; insurance, repairs, financing, and actual lease costs are not published.

03Demand & competition

County workplace demand is a concern: 2025 QCEW reports 668 annual-average covered jobs located at county workplaces, down 2.91%; this is neither resident employment nor unemployment. Education and health services, the largest disclosed private supersector, represents 31.76% of private covered jobs, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration was -7 households, although incoming movers’ average AGI exceeded outgoing movers’ by a calculated $1,115. Investors made 1 of 12 purchases, or 8.33%; this small mortgage-purchase measure does not establish broad buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual climate loss equals 0.12% of building value; it is neither a dollar loss nor a property-specific damage estimate. Obtain parcel flood-zone, elevation, loss-history, insurance, deductible, and replacement-cost information. Although the Realtor.com period is 2026-06, no listing price, active listings, days on market, or price-reduction share is supplied. Thus MLS asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time, and seller-concession conclusions are unavailable. Current market-rent and lease comparables are the next income-underwriting check.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Faulk 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
Faulkton city670Cresbard town122Orient town91Chelsea town61Brentwood Colony CDP57Evergreen Colony CDP55Rockham town37Onaka town25
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

11 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Faulkton cityIncorporated place
    670
  2. 02
    Cresbard townIncorporated place
    122
  3. 03
    Orient townIncorporated place
    91
  4. 04
    Chelsea townIncorporated place
    61
  5. 05
    Brentwood Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    57
  6. 06
    Evergreen Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    55
  7. 07
    Rockham townIncorporated place
    37
  8. 08
    Onaka townIncorporated place
    25
  9. 09
    Seneca townIncorporated place
    22
  10. 10
    Blumengard Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  11. 11
    Thunderbird Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    0

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

0.115% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.62%

$916 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-7

35 in · 42 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$1,115

$64,829 arriving · $63,714 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.3%

1 of 12 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 comparables may show insufficient income to support the asset’s acquisition and operating costs.
  2. County-level employment and migration measures may not reflect demand for the target property or submarket.
  3. Parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance availability, and loss history may differ materially from the county model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be substituted for market rent.

What does the QCEW employment figure measure?

It measures annual average covered jobs located at workplaces in Faulk County, not resident employment or unemployment.

Is there usable MLS listing-market evidence for pricing or supply?

No. The Realtor.com period is supplied, but listing price, active listings, days on market, and price-reduction figures are not published in the record.