Counties / Texas / Hamilton County

Hamilton County, TX

FIPS 48193 · population 8,406 · outside every metro area

$275k
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
$275k
▲ 2.7% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$885
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+85.9%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.7%FHFA HPI2025+2.1%
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$148k
Surveyed gross rent$885
Rent burden 30%+58.2%
Median year built1965
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
28.6%vacant
4,372estimated housing units
Occupied tenure21.3% renter
owner 78.7%renter 21.3%
Structure mix88.6% single-family
Single-family 88.6%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 7.8%Other 3.6%
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 jobs2,826▼ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments276annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$943▲ 1.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities29.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.8%WEEKLY WAGE+1.6%Trade, transportation, and utilities29.5%
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

Hamilton County presents a split evidence set: a buyer should investigate whether modest value gains can survive weak listing-market terms and carrying costs, while a yield-focused buyer should be cautious because market rent is not published. Zillow's 2026-06 county median home value was $275,027, up 2.68% year over year. FHFA's annual 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 2.10%; it corroborates positive direction but is not a home value and does not share Zillow's vintage or method.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot be completed: no median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's $973 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 1.26%, a carrying-cost input but not a tax bill for a particular home. In Realtor.com's 2026-06 MLS data, 25.33% of listings had price reductions. This is active-listing seller-concession evidence, not a closed-sale price or proof of buyer demand.

03Demand & competition

Demand indicators are mixed. Net migration of 86 tax-return households paired with incoming movers' average income being $15,594 above outgoing movers' is a favorable composition signal, but these aggregates do not identify homebuyers or tenants. Investor mortgages represented 6.06% of 66 purchases, observed nonoccupant mortgage participation rather than all investor activity; cash buyers are not identified. QCEW's annual 2025 covered workplace employment fell 1.77%. Trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector; QCEW is neither resident employment nor unemployment.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.11% of building value. That model does not establish parcel exposure, insurance availability, deductible, or repair cost. The next file should obtain property-level flood and insurance records, market asking rents and lease terms, and closed-sale comparables. Their absence prevents a site-level resilience assessment, an income-and-yield calculation, and validation of entry price; county evidence alone cannot resolve those issues.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Hamilton 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
Hamilton city2.9KHico city*1.8KEvant town*535Carlton CDP10
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
    Hamilton cityIncorporated place
    2,934
  2. 02
    Hico cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    1,771
  3. 03
    Evant townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    535
  4. 04
    Carlton CDPCensus-designated place
    10

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

0.112% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.26%

$1,863 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+86

318 in · 232 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$15,594

$74,991 arriving · $59,397 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.1%

4 of 66 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 listings75▲ 1.4% year over year
Median days on market90▼ 9.6% year over year
Listings price-reduced25.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 3.2% 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. Unpublished market rent leaves income economics and gross yield unmeasured.
  2. MLS listing conditions may not translate into closed transaction values.
  3. Flood-model results may differ materially from parcel-level exposure and insurance terms.
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 a substitute for market rent.

What does the QCEW employment figure measure?

It measures annual average covered jobs located at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.

Does the climate-loss metric establish risk for a specific property?

No. It is a modeled building-value loss ratio and does not provide parcel-level flood exposure, insurance availability, deductibles, or repair costs.