Counties / West Virginia / Gilmer County

Gilmer County, WV

FIPS 54021 · population 7,288 · outside every metro area

$127k
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
$127k
▲ 7.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$750
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
$869
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+7.0%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$84k
Surveyed gross rent$750
Rent burden 30%+22.0%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
27.7%vacant
3,117estimated housing units
Occupied tenure24.4% renter
owner 75.6%renter 24.4%
Structure mix70.1% single-family
Single-family 70.1%20+ units 0.1%Mobile home 25.4%Other 4.4%
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 jobs1,788▲ 2.5% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments166annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$970▲ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services21.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.5%WEEKLY WAGE+1.8%Education and health services21.1%
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

Gilmer County’s tension is a low nominal entry price with Zillow appreciation but insufficient evidence to underwrite rental cash flow or resale liquidity. Zillow’s June 2026 county median home value was $127,029, up 7.05% year over year. No FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI reading is published, so this direction has no supplied HPI cross-check and is not a sale-price measure. Long-hold buyers should investigate rent and condition; those dependent on resale or quick lease-up should be cautious: Realtor.com MLS listing price, active supply, days on market, and price-reduction data are not published for June 2026.

02Housing economics

Rental economics are the central gap. Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $869 per month, but it is a payment standard, not measured asking rent, and cannot substitute for it. The effective property-tax rate is 0.49%, with a $410 median annual tax; these county references do not establish the tax bill, insurance, vacancy, maintenance, or expenses for an individual property.

03Demand & competition

Workplace evidence is positive but does not settle housing demand. QCEW’s 2025 annual average records 1,788 covered jobs at county workplaces, up 2.52%, and a $970 average weekly covered-worker wage, up 1.78%. Education and health services, the largest disclosed private supersector, had 195 jobs and 21.10% of private covered employment; it is not the whole economy. Tax-return migration shows out-movers exceeded in-movers by 34, while their average income exceeded that of in-movers by a calculated $6,385. The record reports no investor purchases among 25 total purchases, limiting evidence of non-owner buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected climate loss equals 0.31% of building value annually; this is a model ratio, not a dollar loss or a parcel-specific insurance quote. County-level evidence cannot resolve flood zone, elevation, deductible, coverage availability, repair scope, or tenant demand. Before a conclusion on yield, exit liquidity, or debt coverage, obtain market-rent and vacancy comps, parcel tax and insurance quotes, flood history and mitigation records, property condition, closed-sale comps, and current MLS evidence.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Gilmer 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
Glenville town1KSand Fork town96
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

2 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Glenville townIncorporated place
    1,037
  2. 02
    Sand Fork townIncorporated place
    96

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

0.310% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.49%

$410 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-34

105 in · 139 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$6,385

$36,838 arriving · $43,223 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors0.0%

0 of 25 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. Unpublished market rent, vacancy, and operating costs could prevent a supportable cash-flow conclusion.
  2. Parcel-level flood exposure, insurance terms, and mitigation needs may differ substantially from the county model.
  3. Missing MLS and closed-sale evidence leaves liquidity, condition-adjusted pricing, and buyer competition unresolved.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be used as market rent.

What does the employment measure represent?

It is QCEW annual average covered employment at workplaces located in Gilmer County, not resident employment or unemployment.

Is there evidence of investor buyer participation?

The record reports no investor purchases among the reported total purchases, limiting evidence of non-owner buyer competition.