Counties / Texas / Fayette County

Fayette County, TX

FIPS 48149 · population 25,042 · outside every metro area

$459k
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
$459k
▼ 1.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$988
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
$1,019
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.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+53.5%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−1.4%FHFA HPI2025+0.9%
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$294k
Surveyed gross rent$988
Rent burden 30%+44.6%
Median year built1984
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
21.4%vacant
13,233estimated housing units
Occupied tenure20.6% renter
owner 79.4%renter 20.6%
Structure mix79.7% single-family
Single-family 79.7%20+ units 2.2%Mobile home 12.7%Other 5.5%
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 jobs9,374▼ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments850annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,086▲ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities31.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+1.8%Trade, transportation, and utilities31.6%
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

Fayette County presents a value-versus-liquidity tension: resale-sensitive buyers should investigate marketing conditions, while cash-flow buyers should be cautious because market rent is not published. At Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, the median home value was $459,432, down 1.37% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI nevertheless rose, with a 53.47% cumulative five-year change. The HPI is not a home value, and its different vintage and method cannot be averaged with Zillow into one appreciation rate.

02Housing economics

No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate and must not fill that gap. The 0.89% effective property-tax rate is a county-level carrying-cost constraint, but it cannot establish a bill for a parcel at the Zillow value. Lease comparables, vacancy, operating expenses, and parcel assessment data are needed before making a cash-flow or property-tax conclusion.

03Demand & competition

At Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS observation, median listing-market time was 98 days and 20.85% of listings had price reductions. These are asking-market supply and seller-concession signals, not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Net migration was 130 tax-return households, and movers in had average AGI $22,801 above movers out; this is a composition signal, not evidence that migrants will buy locally. Non-occupant purchase mortgages accounted for 23 of 205 purchases, or 11.22%, a distinct buyer cohort whose pricing effect is not established by the share alone.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard; modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.11% of building value, a modeled loss ratio rather than a property insurance quote. In the 2025 annual QCEW series, covered workplace employment edged lower while average weekly covered-worker wages rose; Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy or resident labor market. Missing flood-zone and elevation data, insurance terms, property condition, closed-sale evidence, and financing data prevent a property-level durability, resale, or all-in return conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Fayette 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
La Grange city4.5KSchulenburg city2.8KFlatonia town1.8KFayetteville city335Ellinger city253Carmine city173Plum CDP138Round Top town105
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    La Grange cityIncorporated place
    4,452
  2. 02
    Schulenburg cityIncorporated place
    2,768
  3. 03
    Flatonia townIncorporated place
    1,830
  4. 04
    Fayetteville cityIncorporated place
    335
  5. 05
    Ellinger cityIncorporated place
    253
  6. 06
    Carmine cityIncorporated place
    173
  7. 07
    Plum CDPCensus-designated place
    138
  8. 08
    Round Top townIncorporated place
    105

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 tax0.89%

$2,611 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+130

765 in · 635 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$22,801

$91,248 arriving · $68,447 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.2%

23 of 205 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 listings135▲ 1.9% year over year
Median days on market98▲ 1.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced20.8%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 1.9% year over year

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

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. Parcel-level flood exposure and insurance costs may differ materially from the county modeled loss ratio.
  2. Unpublished market rents, vacancy, and operating costs could overturn cash-flow economics.
  3. MLS listing evidence may not translate into closed-sale pricing or absorption.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What is the dominant hazard?

Inland flood.

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Median asking market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot substitute for market rent.

What share of purchases involved non-occupant investors?

23 of 205 purchase mortgages, or 11.22%.