Counties / Alabama / Franklin County

Franklin County, AL

FIPS 01059 · population 31,966 · outside every metro area

$182k
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
$182k
▼ 5.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$676
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
$776
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+49.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−5.3%FHFA HPI2025+1.0%
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$136k
Surveyed gross rent$676
Rent burden 30%+35.9%
Median year built1983
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.6%vacant
14,002estimated housing units
Occupied tenure27.6% renter
owner 72.4%renter 27.6%
Structure mix73.5% single-family
Single-family 73.5%20+ units 1.4%Mobile home 15.3%Other 9.8%
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 jobs10,994▲ 0.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments702annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$958▲ 3.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing52.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.3%WEEKLY WAGE+3.2%Manufacturing52.5%
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

Franklin County’s decision tension is a softer current-value signal against a still-positive transaction index, leaving cash-flow and near-term exit underwriting cautious. Zillow’s county median home value was $182,220 in 2026-06, down 5.35% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 0.96% over its annual measure and 49.09% cumulatively over five years. These are different vintages and methods: FHFA is not a home value, and the series cannot be blended into one appreciation rate.

02Housing economics

Housing economics are incomplete. The effective property-tax rate is 0.32%, a carrying cost to test against a parcel’s assessment and tax bill. County market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The supplied HUD FMR is a payment standard, not measured market rent, and cannot substitute for it. Missing insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing, and parcel-level tax evidence prevents a net-cash-flow conclusion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS market showed 73 active listings, 81 median days on market, 23.75% with price reductions, and a 40% pending-to-active ratio. These are visible asking-market supply, marketing time, concessions, and listing status—not closed sales or buyer-demand proof. QCEW’s 2025 annual average reports 10,994 covered jobs at county workplaces; Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy or resident employment. Tax-return movers produced a net outflow of 104, while outbound movers’ average AGI was $4,936 higher. Investor participation was 8.21% of 207 purchase mortgages, a limited buyer-competition signal rather than evidence of pricing power.

04Risk & next checks

The dominant hazard is inland flood, and modeled climate loss equals 0.14% of building value per year. That model should alter parcel screening, but it does not identify a property’s flood zone, deductible, premium, condition, or mitigation. Closed-sale comparables, market-rent comps, lease-up and turnover data, insurance quotes, flood claims, and assessment records are not published here; without them, neither achievable income nor a defensible exit price can be underwritten.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Franklin 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
Russellville city10.8KRed Bay city3.2KPhil Campbell town780Hodges town420Vina town358Spruce Pine CDP189Belgreen CDP58
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

7 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Russellville cityIncorporated place
    10,799
  2. 02
    Red Bay cityIncorporated place
    3,201
  3. 03
    Phil Campbell townIncorporated place
    780
  4. 04
    Hodges townIncorporated place
    420
  5. 05
    Vina townIncorporated place
    358
  6. 06
    Spruce Pine CDPCensus-designated place
    189
  7. 07
    Belgreen CDPCensus-designated place
    58

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

0.143% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.32%

$433 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-104

524 in · 628 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$4,936

$42,752 arriving · $47,688 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.2%

17 of 207 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 listings73▲ 21.9% year over year
Median days on market81▲ 44.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced23.8%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 9.5% 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. Unpublished market rent and operating costs may leave income insufficient to support the acquisition basis.
  2. MLS listing conditions may not match completed-sale pricing or actual buyer absorption.
  3. Parcel-specific inland-flood exposure and insurance cost may differ materially from the county climate-loss model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be used as market rent.

What does the record show about investor participation?

Investor purchase mortgages represented 8.21% of 207 total purchase mortgages.

What hazard requires property-level diligence?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard; the record provides a modeled annual climate-loss ratio but no parcel flood-zone or insurance evidence.