Counties / Kansas / Jackson County

Jackson County, KS

FIPS 20085 · population 13,341 · part of Topeka, KS

$263k
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
$263k
▲ 9.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$814
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
$1,057
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+58.4%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+9.3%FHFA HPI2025+11.4%
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$207k
Surveyed gross rent$814
Rent burden 30%+42.7%
Median year built1976
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
11.1%vacant
5,638estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.9% renter
owner 77.1%renter 22.9%
Structure mix85.4% single-family
Single-family 85.4%20+ units 2.5%Mobile home 6.5%Other 5.6%
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 jobs4,463▲ 1.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments332annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$931▲ 4.5% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services25.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.9%WEEKLY WAGE+4.5%Education and health services25.5%
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

Jackson County presents an appreciation-versus-underwriting-verifiability tension: buyers who can validate rents and parcel-level flood costs should investigate, while yield-led or liquidity-sensitive buyers should be cautious. Zillow’s 2026-06 county median home value was $262,894, up 9.31% year over year. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 11.41% annually and 58.39% cumulatively over five years. The measures point in the same direction, but use different methods and source periods; the HPI is not a home value, and their growth rates should not be combined.

02Housing economics

No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed from the record. HUD’s $1,057 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Carrying costs matter: the effective property-tax rate is 1.14%. This county measure does not identify the tax bill or insurance burden of the median-value home; parcel assessment, exemptions, rent, and operating costs remain necessary.

03Demand & competition

Workplace evidence is modestly positive but narrow. QCEW workplace data for 2025 show annual average covered jobs grew 1.94%, while the covered-worker average weekly wage was $931. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, but that does not describe all county employment, resident jobs, or an employment forecast. Tax-return migration was -4 households, although average incoming AGI exceeded outgoing AGI by $7,469. Investor participation was 8.47% of 118 purchase mortgages, indicating some non-owner competition but not the full buyer mix or future demand. Realtor.com listing, supply, marketing-time, and reduction measures are not published, so MLS asking-price conditions and visible supply cannot be assessed.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard. The modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.17% of building value annually, a modeled expected-loss measure rather than a property-specific insurance quote or observed damage history. The present evidence cannot test gross yield, resale liquidity, flood-zone exposure, deductibles, or repairs. Next checks are address-level flood and insurance records, actual executed or asking rents and vacancy, parcel tax records, and current MLS listings, pending activity, days on market, and price reductions.

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
Holton city3.4KHoyt city935Mayetta city347Whiting city337Denison city232Circleville city179Delia city177Netawaka city151
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

9 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Holton cityIncorporated place
    3,387
  2. 02
    Hoyt cityIncorporated place
    935
  3. 03
    Mayetta cityIncorporated place
    347
  4. 04
    Whiting cityIncorporated place
    337
  5. 05
    Denison cityIncorporated place
    232
  6. 06
    Circleville cityIncorporated place
    179
  7. 07
    Delia cityIncorporated place
    177
  8. 08
    Netawaka cityIncorporated place
    151
  9. 09
    Soldier cityIncorporated place
    68

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

0.169% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.14%

$2,363 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-4

285 in · 289 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$7,469

$55,133 arriving · $47,664 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.5%

10 of 118 mortgages

investorother financed
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; for a rent figure, the Topeka, KS page covers the wider market.
Same metro

The other counties in Topeka, KS

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Jackson County13,341$263kn/an/ainland flooding
Shawnee County178,025$210k$1,2857.3%inland flooding
Jefferson County18,349$297kn/an/ainland flooding
Osage County15,744$214kn/an/ainland flooding
Wabaunsee County7,009$259kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Absent market-rent and operating-cost evidence could overturn a positive cash-flow thesis.
  2. Unpublished Realtor.com listing metrics leave resale liquidity and seller-concession conditions untested.
  3. Countywide modeled flood loss may not capture a target property's exposure, insurance terms, or repair history.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market rent is not published; the HUD two-bedroom FMR is not market rent.

What hazard requires parcel review?

Inland flood; modeled annual climate loss is 0.17% of building value, not a property-specific quote.

Do the supplied records establish MLS liquidity?

No. Realtor.com listing price, inventory, days on market, reductions, and pending data are not published.