Counties / Alabama / Jackson County

Jackson County, AL

FIPS 01071 · population 53,053 · part of Scottsboro, AL

$196k
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
$196k
▼ 0.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,312
n/a year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
8.0%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$776
market rent is 1.69x the 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.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+64.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−0.1%FHFA HPI2025+5.8%
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$160k
Surveyed gross rent$780
Rent burden 30%+44.8%
Median year built1985
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.5%vacant
24,914estimated housing units
Occupied tenure24.9% renter
owner 75.1%renter 24.9%
Structure mix71.8% single-family
Single-family 71.8%20+ units 0.3%Mobile home 21.6%Other 6.4%
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 jobs15,114▼ 2.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,242annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$997▲ 4.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing35.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.1%WEEKLY WAGE+4.9%Manufacturing35.6%
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

Jackson County presents a yield-versus-validation tension: measured asking rent supports an initial gross-income screen, yet price evidence is mixed and covered employment declined. Zillow’s county measure in 2026-06 slipped 0.12% year over year, while the FHFA repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.83% in 2025. These are different vintages and methods, so they cannot be combined into one appreciation reading. Income-focused buyers should investigate property-level rents; buyers relying on appreciation or local job depth should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Median asking market rent is $1,312 per month, and the reported 8.02% gross yield links annual market rent to price before vacancy, maintenance, insurance, financing, or taxes. HUD FMR of $776 is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate; it cannot substitute for market rent or independently support a yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.30%, a carrying-cost input alongside the rent measure. Missing operating expenses, insurance premiums, and property-specific condition prevent a net-income conclusion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows 16.03% of listings with price reductions and a 25.15% pending-to-active ratio. Those measures describe seller concessions and visible listing pipeline, not closed prices or buyer demand alone. Tax-return migration records show 1,222 moving households in versus 962 out; entrants had higher average AGI than leavers, but this county-level movement does not establish tenant demand. Reported investor purchases were 28 of 473 total purchases, a 5.92% investor share of purchase mortgages: present, but not the dominant reported cohort.

04Risk & next checks

Annual QCEW reports a decline in covered jobs at county workplaces, while Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector; this is neither resident employment nor unemployment data. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled expected annual building-value loss ratio is 0.18%, making location-specific flood exposure a core carrying-cost check rather than a quoted loss. Verify flood zone, insurance and claims history, lease rents, property taxes, recent closed comparables, and employer concentration. Their absence prevents a property-level cash-flow, resale-liquidity, or hazard-cost conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Jackson 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
Scottsboro city15.7KBridgeport city2.2KStevenson town2KSkyline town1.1KSection town1.1KWoodville town947Hollywood town942Pisgah town923
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

13 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Scottsboro cityIncorporated place
    15,712
  2. 02
    Bridgeport cityIncorporated place
    2,246
  3. 03
    Stevenson townIncorporated place
    1,995
  4. 04
    Skyline townIncorporated place
    1,126
  5. 05
    Section townIncorporated place
    1,069
  6. 06
    Woodville townIncorporated place
    947
  7. 07
    Hollywood townIncorporated place
    942
  8. 08
    Pisgah townIncorporated place
    923
  9. 09
    Hytop townIncorporated place
    726
  10. 10
    Pleasant Groves townIncorporated place
    485
  11. 11
    Dutton townIncorporated place
    435
  12. 12
    Langston townIncorporated place
    284
Show 1 more places
  1. 13
    Paint Rock townIncorporated place
    141

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

0.176% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.30%

$480 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+260

1,222 in · 962 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,035

$55,341 arriving · $49,306 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors5.9%

28 of 473 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 listings169▲ 5.0% year over year
Median days on market74▼ 4.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced16.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 1.4% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished operating expenses, insurance costs, financing terms, and condition could make gross yield materially different from property-level net income.
  2. Property-specific flood exposure, insurance availability, and prior losses could exceed the county-level modeled hazard measure.
  3. Mixed price measures, listing concessions, and declining covered employment leave rent durability and resale liquidity unverified.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is HUD Fair Market Rent evidence of Jackson County asking rent?

No. The supplied HUD FMR is a payment standard, while the county record separately publishes measured median asking market rent.

Does the FHFA HPI provide a dollar home value?

No. It is a repeat-transaction appreciation index and should not be treated as a home-price level.

What does the county labor measure capture?

QCEW captures annual average covered jobs at workplaces in the county, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.