Counties / Florida / Gilchrist County

Gilchrist County, FL

FIPS 12041 · population 19,040 · part of Gainesville, FL

$310k
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
$310k
▲ 3.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$926
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
$1,493
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+58.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.5%FHFA HPI2025−0.6%
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$200k
Surveyed gross rent$926
Rent burden 30%+38.0%
Median year built1997
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.1%vacant
7,863estimated housing units
Occupied tenure14.3% renter
owner 85.7%renter 14.3%
Structure mix48.2% single-family
Single-family 48.2%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 49.8%Other 2.0%
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 jobs3,832▲ 0.5% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments387annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$948▲ 5.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services15.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.5%WEEKLY WAGE+5.2%Education and health services15.0%
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

Gilchrist County presents a valuation-versus-liquidity tension: Zillow’s county median home value was $310,217 in 2026-06, up 3.47% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI fell 0.64%. Those measures use different methods and vintages; the HPI is not a home value and should not be combined with Zillow into a single appreciation reading. This is a verification case for operators willing to test local deal economics, while buyers whose case depends on continued price gains should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Rental underwriting cannot bridge this tension because a county market rent is not published; gross yield therefore cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,493 per month is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot substitute for rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.65%, with median annual tax of $1,302, a carrying-cost input rather than a specific tax bill. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss is 0.23% of building value per year, not a property insurance quote. Insurance, flood-zone status, assessed value, and repair costs are not published, preventing all-in expense coverage analysis.

03Demand & competition

In Realtor.com’s MLS listing market, median asking price declined 5.85% year over year, active supply declined, median marketing time reached 86 days, and 28.57% of listings had reductions. This combination signals seller concessions and slower listing turnover, but neither supplies a closed-sale price nor proves buyer demand. Tax-return migration was net positive by 164 households, and entering movers’ average AGI exceeded exiting movers’ by $11,395; county-level flows do not reveal renter household formation or neighborhood demand. Among 220 purchases, the recorded non-occupant mortgage share was 2.27%, excluding cash-buyer behavior. QCEW is workplace-covered employment, not resident labor demand; Education and health services was its largest disclosed private supersector.

04Risk & next checks

Next checks are property-level achievable rent, signed leases and vacancy, comparable closed sales, flood elevation and insurance quotes, tax assessment, and purchase financing mix. They determine whether listing softness supports an executable basis, rent covers recurring costs, and flood exposure requires resilience spending. County aggregates cannot settle parcel condition, tenant quality, or buyer competition.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Gilchrist 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
Trenton city2.3KFanning Springs city*942Bell town563Spring Ridge CDP555
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
    Trenton cityIncorporated place
    2,320
  2. 02
    Fanning Springs cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    942
  3. 03
    Bell townIncorporated place
    563
  4. 04
    Spring Ridge CDPCensus-designated place
    555

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

0.227% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.65%

$1,302 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+164

739 in · 575 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$11,395

$55,597 arriving · $44,202 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors2.3%

5 of 220 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 listings83▼ 2.9% year over year
Median days on market86▲ 11.7% year over year
Listings price-reduced28.6%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 5.9% 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; for a rent figure, the Gainesville, FL page covers the wider market.
Same metro

The other counties in Gainesville, FL

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Gilchrist County19,040$310kn/an/ainland flooding
Alachua County285,492$308k$1,6756.5%inland flooding
Levy County45,391$292kn/an/ahurricane
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Actual market rents and vacancy could leave recurring carrying costs unsupported.
  2. Closed sales or cash-buyer competition could contradict the apparent MLS listing softness.
  3. Parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance cost, or repair requirements could exceed the county climate model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

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

Does the record establish one current appreciation rate?

No. Zillow’s home-value measure and FHFA’s repeat-transaction index have different methods and supplied periods.

What does the Realtor.com evidence measure?

It measures MLS asking prices, visible listings, marketing time, and price reductions; it is not closed-sale evidence.