Counties / Texas / Gonzales County

Gonzales County, TX

FIPS 48177 · population 19,851 · outside every metro area

$265k
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
$265k
▼ 8.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$840
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
$973
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+43.9%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−8.2%FHFA HPI2025−4.7%
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$159k
Surveyed gross rent$840
Rent burden 30%+45.7%
Median year built1983
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.1%vacant
9,020estimated housing units
Occupied tenure33.8% renter
owner 66.2%renter 33.8%
Structure mix65.2% single-family
Single-family 65.2%20+ units 1.3%Mobile home 21.5%Other 12.0%
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 jobs7,338▲ 2.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments544annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,085▲ 4.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities28.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+2.2%WEEKLY WAGE+4.0%Trade, transportation, and utilities28.0%
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

Gonzales County presents a price-repricing-versus-demand-support tension. Underwriters examining a specific acquisition should remain cautious until property-level rent and flood costs are documented. Zillow’s county median home value was $264,609 at its 2026-06 observation, down 8.23% year over year. FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI, which is not a home-value estimate, also fell 4.68% annually after a 43.93% cumulative five-year rise. The vintages and methods differ, so these observations support recent weakness but cannot be averaged into one appreciation rate.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet be converted into a yield case. No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s monthly $973 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill the rent gap. The effective property-tax rate is 1.31%; a target parcel’s assessed value and tax bill are not published. Thus price, rent coverage, and tax burden remain unreconciled at the asset level.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing market showed 72 active listings, a 91-day median marketing time, 15.65% with reductions, and a 17.36% pending-to-active ratio. These are visible supply, asking-market timing, seller-concession, and listing-status evidence—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand alone. QCEW’s 2025 annual measure reports county workplace covered employment rising; its largest disclosed private supersector is Trade, transportation, and utilities, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration was negative, even as inbound movers had higher average AGI than outbound movers. Investor purchase mortgages were a minority of total purchase mortgages, limiting evidence of broad investor competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the designated dominant hazard. The modeled expected annual building-value loss ratio is 0.15%, but this county-level model is not a parcel loss estimate and should be read with flood-zone, elevation, drainage, deductible, and insurance-quote evidence. Actual closed-sale comps, property condition, parcel tax assessment, market-rent history, lease-up, and insurance costs are not published in this record. Their absence prevents a supported conclusion on deal-level value, gross yield, operating burden, flood exposure, or tenant demand.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Gonzales 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
Gonzales city7.2KNixon city*2.2KWaelder city603Smiley city543Harwood town0
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

5 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Gonzales cityIncorporated place
    7,200
  2. 02
    Nixon cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    2,231
  3. 03
    Waelder cityIncorporated place
    603
  4. 04
    Smiley cityIncorporated place
    543
  5. 05
    Harwood townIncorporated 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

0.145% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.31%

$2,084 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-13

448 in · 461 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$10,100

$63,571 arriving · $53,471 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors5.6%

8 of 142 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 listings72▼ 3.4% year over year
Median days on market91▲ 32.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.7%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 6.1% 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. Countywide price and listing signals may not match a target property's submarket, quality, or closed-sale value.
  2. Missing market rent, lease-up, and parcel tax evidence could materially change the income and carrying-cost assessment.
  3. County-level flood-loss modeling may differ materially from a parcel's flood zone, elevation, drainage, insurance availability, and insurance price.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

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

Does the record establish broad investor buyer competition?

No. Investor purchase mortgages were a minority of total purchase mortgages, which is limited countywide evidence rather than proof of broad competition.

What hazard requires parcel-level verification?

Inland flood. The record provides a county-level modeled climate-loss ratio, but not a parcel flood-zone determination, elevation, drainage profile, or insurance quote.