Counties / Georgia / Habersham County

Habersham County, GA

FIPS 13137 · population 47,793 · outside every metro area

$323k
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
$323k
▲ 2.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$974
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
$1,018
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+63.6%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.9%FHFA HPI2025+4.6%
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$238k
Surveyed gross rent$974
Rent burden 30%+43.1%
Median year built1992
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.2%vacant
19,071estimated housing units
Occupied tenure27.2% renter
owner 72.8%renter 27.2%
Structure mix71.8% single-family
Single-family 71.8%20+ units 1.3%Mobile home 20.3%Other 6.6%
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 jobs15,690▲ 4.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,159annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$994▲ 5.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing30.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+4.6%WEEKLY WAGE+5.6%Manufacturing30.6%
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

Habersham’s decision tension is modest county home-value growth alongside softer visible listing conditions, while rent evidence is absent. In Zillow’s 2026-06 county reading, median home value was $323,321, up 2.95% year over year. FHFA’s separate 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 4.61%; it supports an upward direction but is not a home value and cannot be combined with Zillow into one rate. Rent-validation and flood-cost investigators have the clearest open questions; buyers dependent on a yield calculation should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Housing economics remain unpriced at property level. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and must not substitute for market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.59%, with median annual tax of $1,403; both are carrying-cost inputs, but parcel assessment, exemptions and operating costs are not published. Thus price appreciation does not establish cash flow.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS evidence points to more marketing friction rather than verified closing demand: 264 active listings, a 62-day median marketing time, a 17.56% reduced-price share and a 25.57% pending-to-active ratio. These are asking-price market supply, time and concessions—not sale prices or proof of buyer demand alone. Net tax-return migration was 258, and average inbound mover AGI exceeded outbound AGI by $12,275, a positive household-composition signal with no direct tenant-demand measure. Investors accounted for 5.51% of non-occupant purchase mortgages, not all buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Risk review should separate county averages from asset exposures. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.10% of building value; it is not a parcel insurance quote or realized loss. QCEW’s annual series measures covered employment at county workplaces, with Manufacturing the largest disclosed private supersector; it is neither resident employment nor an outlook. Missing rent comps, vacancy, lease terms, insurance, repair needs, flood-zone status, debt terms and closed-sale comps prevent a property-level income, expense and exit-value conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Habersham 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
Cornelia city5KBaldwin city*4KDemorest city2.5KRaoul CDP2.3KClarkesville city2KMount Airy town1.6KAlto town*1.1KTallulah Falls town*288
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Cornelia cityIncorporated place
    4,992
  2. 02
    Baldwin cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    4,000
  3. 03
    Demorest cityIncorporated place
    2,512
  4. 04
    Raoul CDPCensus-designated place
    2,253
  5. 05
    Clarkesville cityIncorporated place
    1,959
  6. 06
    Mount Airy townIncorporated place
    1,622
  7. 07
    Alto townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    1,055
  8. 08
    Tallulah Falls townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    288

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

0.098% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.59%

$1,403 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+258

1,374 in · 1,116 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$12,275

$62,753 arriving · $50,478 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors5.5%

31 of 563 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 listings264▲ 26.9% year over year
Median days on market62▲ 16.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced17.6%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 4.6% 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. Property-level rents and expenses could make income economics materially different from the county price signal.
  2. Flood-zone exposure, insurance and repairs can diverge from the county climate-loss model.
  3. County migration and covered-workplace employment may not translate into demand at the property’s location or tenant segment.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can the record calculate gross yield?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot replace it.

What does the Realtor.com evidence measure?

Active MLS listings, asking-price market time, reductions and pending-to-active availability; it does not report closed-sale prices.

What is the main climate limitation?

Inland flood is dominant; the modeled loss ratio is county-level expected building-value loss, not a parcel insurance quote.