Counties / Iowa / Fremont County

Fremont County, IA

FIPS 19071 · population 6,514 · outside every metro area

$190k
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
$190k
▲ 9.8% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$746
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
$919
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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+48.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+9.8%FHFA HPI2025+0.5%
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$154k
Surveyed gross rent$746
Rent burden 30%+24.6%
Median year built1958
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.7%vacant
3,125estimated housing units
Occupied tenure21.7% renter
owner 78.3%renter 21.7%
Structure mix89.4% single-family
Single-family 89.4%20+ units 0.5%Mobile home 2.9%Other 7.2%
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 jobs2,168▼ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments284annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$986▲ 6.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities31.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.3%WEEKLY WAGE+6.4%Trade, transportation, and utilities31.0%
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

Fremont County is a price-led but income-unverified underwriting case: the apparent value gain sits beside a much slower repeat-sales measure, no published market rent, modest net out-migration, and a shrinking covered-job base. Investors requiring current cash-flow evidence should be cautious; buyers pursuing property-specific diligence should investigate whether leases, taxes, flood exposure, and insurance produce acceptable carrying economics. County evidence identifies tensions, not a conclusion for any asset.

02Housing economics

At Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, median home value was $189,900, up 9.76% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 0.46% annually and 48.12% cumulatively over five years; it is an index rather than a price, and its distinct method and vintage cannot be averaged with Zillow’s change. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $919 per month is a payment standard, not asking rent. The 1.21% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, but it cannot be paired with income without rent and property-specific tax evidence.

03Demand & competition

QCEW’s 2025 annual covered workplace employment fell 1.32%, while average weekly covered-worker wage was $986, up 6.36%. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, indicating concentration in the disclosed covered-job base rather than the whole economy or resident employment. Migration was net negative by 2 tax-return households, and arriving movers’ average income was $1,554 below departing movers’. Investors accounted for 13.95% of 86 purchase mortgages: participation is observable but neither a measure of cash buyers nor proof of durable buyer competition. These labor, migration, and mortgage figures do not establish tenant demand.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.13% of building value per year and the dominant hazard is inland flood; this is county-level modeled loss, not a parcel flood determination or insurance quote. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active inventory, days on market, reductions, and pending ratio are not published, preventing a read on visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time. Obtain lease comps and operating statements, parcel flood and insurance evidence, tax assessment and bill, and MLS history before setting rent, vacancy, expenses, or exit-price assumptions.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Fremont 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
Shenandoah city*4.9KSidney city955Hamburg city927Tabor city*877Farragut city413Randolph city235Thurman city217Riverton city188
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Shenandoah cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    4,892
  2. 02
    Sidney cityIncorporated place
    955
  3. 03
    Hamburg cityIncorporated place
    927
  4. 04
    Tabor cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    877
  5. 05
    Farragut cityIncorporated place
    413
  6. 06
    Randolph cityIncorporated place
    235
  7. 07
    Thurman cityIncorporated place
    217
  8. 08
    Riverton cityIncorporated place
    188
  9. 09
    Percival CDPCensus-designated place
    105
  10. 10
    Imogene cityIncorporated place
    49
  11. 11
    Anderson CDPCensus-designated place
    37
  12. 12
    Bartlett 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

0.132% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.21%

$1,868 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-2

149 in · 151 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$1,554

$52,181 arriving · $53,735 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors14.0%

12 of 86 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, lease terms, and operating expenses are absent, so income coverage cannot be tested.
  2. Flood loss is modeled at county scale; parcel exposure and insurance cost remain unknown.
  3. Covered-job contraction and net out-migration leave tenant depth and resale liquidity unverified.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market rent is not published, and the $919 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent.

What does the record show about investor mortgage participation?

Investors accounted for 13.95% of 86 purchase mortgages.

What climate risk is identified?

The dominant hazard is inland flood, with modeled annual climate loss of 0.13% of building value.