Counties / Michigan / Iosco County

Iosco County, MI

FIPS 26069 · population 25,347 · outside every metro area

$173k
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
$173k
▲ 4.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$719
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+68.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+4.5%FHFA HPI2025+3.5%
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$142k
Surveyed gross rent$719
Rent burden 30%+40.5%
Median year built1972
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
41.6%vacant
20,061estimated housing units
Occupied tenure17.9% renter
owner 82.1%renter 17.9%
Structure mix85.1% single-family
Single-family 85.1%20+ units 2.1%Mobile home 6.8%Other 6.0%
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 jobs7,625▼ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments644annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,174▲ 2.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities42.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.3%WEEKLY WAGE+2.9%Trade, transportation, and utilities42.1%
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

Iosco’s decision tension is a higher county value signal against a softer visible listing market. This record warrants investigation only with property-level rent, flood, and tax verification; caution fits underwriting that assumes appreciation will carry returns. Zillow’s June 2026 median home value was $172,648, up 4.47% year over year. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 3.46% and 68.17% over five years. FHFA is an index, not a home value, and its period and method cannot be averaged with Zillow’s.

02Housing economics

Realtor.com’s MLS asking market points to seller competition: median listing price was down 5.99% year over year, active listings rose 21.41%, median marketing time was 37 days, and 23.11% of listings had price reductions. These are listings, not closed sales or proof of buyer demand. No market asking rent is published. HUD’s $973 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent, so gross yield cannot be computed. The 0.96% effective property-tax rate and $1,359 median annual tax need parcel-level confirmation before carrying-cost underwriting.

03Demand & competition

County workplace demand is mixed. Annual QCEW covered employment fell 1.28%; Trade, transportation, and utilities represented 42.07% of private covered jobs. This is workplace employment, not resident employment or an unemployment measure. Tax-return migration was net positive by 31 households, while average incoming mover AGI exceeded outgoing mover AGI by $9,697; that is a limited household-flow signal, not proof of durable demand. The record reports 257 purchases and a 7% investor share, indicating investor participation without showing property-level bidding or buyer terms.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.08% of building value annually, consistent with inland flood as the dominant hazard. It is a county-level modeled exposure, not a site-specific insurance or damage estimate. Next checks should include flood elevation, prior losses, insurance quotes, mitigation, assessed value, and parcel taxes. Market rent, vacancy, operating expenses, debt terms, and closed-sale comparables are not published here; their absence prevents income, cash-flow, and exit-price underwriting.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Iosco 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
East Tawas city2.7KAu Sable CDP1.6KTawas City city1.6KSand Lake CDP1.3KOscoda CDP654Whittemore city492
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

6 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    East Tawas cityIncorporated place
    2,675
  2. 02
    Au Sable CDPCensus-designated place
    1,643
  3. 03
    Tawas City cityIncorporated place
    1,614
  4. 04
    Sand Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    1,348
  5. 05
    Oscoda CDPCensus-designated place
    654
  6. 06
    Whittemore cityIncorporated place
    492

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

0.077% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.96%

$1,359 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+31

746 in · 715 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$9,697

$61,019 arriving · $51,322 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.0%

18 of 257 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 listings207▲ 21.4% year over year
Median days on market37▲ 5.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced23.1%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 6.0% 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 flood exposure, loss history, insurance cost, and mitigation may differ materially from the county model.
  2. Missing market rent, vacancy, operating expenses, and debt terms leave income and cash flow untested.
  3. MLS asking-market conditions may not translate into closed-sale prices or resale liquidity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be computed from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent.

Do the price measures establish one appreciation rate?

No. Zillow is a county home-value measure, while FHFA is a repeat-transaction index reported for a different supplied period.

What does the record show about investor competition?

It shows reported non-occupant investor participation, but not property-level bidding, cash offers, or buyer terms.