Counties / West Virginia / Jackson County

Jackson County, WV

FIPS 54035 · population 27,705 · outside every metro area

$205k
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
$205k
▲ 3.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$716
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
$869
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+42.0%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.1%FHFA HPI2025+7.6%
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$157k
Surveyed gross rent$716
Rent burden 30%+47.0%
Median year built1979
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
10.5%vacant
12,867estimated housing units
Occupied tenure21.3% renter
owner 78.6%renter 21.3%
Structure mix71.6% single-family
Single-family 71.6%20+ units 2.2%Mobile home 19.8%Other 6.3%
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 jobs7,716▼ 1.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments731annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,056▲ 3.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing25.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.2%WEEKLY WAGE+3.7%Manufacturing25.2%
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 squeeze-versus-resilience underwriting question: price evidence is positive, while annual QCEW covered employment at county workplaces declined 1.20%. Buyers able to verify tenant depth and flood exposure should investigate; those requiring demonstrated rent coverage or stable employment should be cautious. The central tension is appreciation indicators against incomplete income evidence and a shrinking covered-job base. This is county-level evidence, not a metro proxy.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s $204,590 median home value and 3.14% year-over-year change belong to its 2026-06 observation. FHFA’s separate 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 7.56% annually and 42.03% cumulatively over five years; it supports the appreciation direction but is not a home value and cannot be merged with Zillow’s different vintage. Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD’s supplied FMR is a payment standard, not market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.53%; parcel-level tax and insurance are unreported.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS evidence shows 32 active listings and a 60.94% pending-to-active ratio; these are visible supply and listing-status measures, not closed-sale demand. Its 7.87% reduced-price share signals some seller concessions. Net migration added 46 tax-return households, paired with higher average income among inbound than outbound movers; that is a modest screen, not tenant-demand proof. Investor mortgages were 9 of 205 purchases, or 4.39%, so the record shows limited measured investor participation rather than the source of buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual climate loss is 0.24% of building value; this ratio is not a parcel estimate or a dollar loss. Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the county’s whole economy. Obtain parcel flood-zone and insurance quotes, market rents, vacancy and lease-up, property condition, sale comparables, and tax history. Without them, underwriting cannot establish yield, debt-service coverage, sale-price support, or property-specific hazard cost.

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
Ravenswood city3.8KRipley city3.1KCottageville CDP310
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Ravenswood cityIncorporated place
    3,830
  2. 02
    Ripley cityIncorporated place
    3,071
  3. 03
    Cottageville CDPCensus-designated place
    310

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

0.241% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.53%

$834 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+46

514 in · 468 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$921

$48,224 arriving · $47,303 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.4%

9 of 205 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 listings32▼ 21.0% year over year
Median days on market36▼ 22.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced7.9%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 33.6% 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. Published rent, vacancy, and lease-up evidence may differ materially from a subject property’s realized income.
  2. Parcel flood exposure, insurance cost, and mitigation needs may differ from the county-level modeled climate-loss ratio.
  3. Declining county workplace employment and listing-market evidence may not translate into sufficient tenant or buyer depth.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the record?

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

Do Zillow and FHFA report the same market measure and period?

No. Zillow reports a county median home value in its 2026-06 observation, while FHFA reports a 2025 repeat-transaction appreciation index.

What investor competition is visible in the purchase data?

Investor mortgages accounted for 9 of 205 purchases, or 4.39%.