Counties / Texas / Jeff Davis County

Jeff Davis County, TX

FIPS 48243 · population 1,865 · outside every metro area

$207k
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
$207k
▼ 4.8% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$1,241
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
$1,015
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−4.8%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$226k
Surveyed gross rent$1,241
Rent burden 30%+48.1%
Median year built1991
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
36.9%vacant
1,531estimated housing units
Occupied tenure12.0% renter
owner 88.0%renter 12.0%
Structure mix80.0% single-family
Single-family 80.0%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 16.1%Other 3.9%
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 jobs829▼ 2.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments88annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$878▲ 6.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality28.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.4%WEEKLY WAGE+6.8%Leisure and hospitality28.7%
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

Jeff Davis County presents a verification-first acquisition question: the 2026-06 Zillow county median home value was $206,664, down 4.79% year over year, while income economics cannot be tested. That combination warrants caution for buyers who need current cash flow; it merits investigation where basis and operating assumptions can be documented. Zillow is a home-value series at that stated vintage, not a sale-price measure, and no FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is published to independently test its direction.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's two-bedroom FMR of $1,015 per month is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Against that home-value reference, the effective property-tax rate is 0.60%, with a $1,365 median annual tax. These carrying-cost inputs can be scoped, but they cannot establish affordability or net operating income without market rent, insurance, financing, maintenance and property-specific assessments.

03Demand & competition

In 2025, QCEW reports 829 annual-average covered jobs at county workplaces, down 2.36%, while the covered-worker average weekly wage rose 6.81%. Leisure and hospitality, the largest disclosed private supersector, represented 28.67% of private covered employment, not the whole economy. Migration recorded 51 in-movers and 53 out-movers, a net loss of 2; incoming movers averaged $108,020 against $69,245 for departing movers. Higher incoming income alongside a small net outflow is mixed demand evidence, not tenant-demand proof. Investors accounted for 8.33% of 12 purchase mortgages, a thin measure of non-owner competition rather than a buyer-demand verdict.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.19% of building value per year; it is not a property-specific loss estimate. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active listings, days on market and price-reduced share are not published, preventing a read on visible supply, seller concessions or marketing time; in any event, they would be listing-market rather than closed-sale evidence. Next checks are parcel flood zone and loss history, insurance quotations, lease and rent comparables, and closed-sale comps. Without them, price support, income coverage and hazard-adjusted carrying costs remain unresolved.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Jeff Davis 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
Fort Davis CDP879Valentine town69
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

2 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Fort Davis CDPCensus-designated place
    879
  2. 02
    Valentine townIncorporated place
    69

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

0.188% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.60%

$1,365 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-2

51 in · 53 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$38,775

$108,020 arriving · $69,245 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.3%

1 of 12 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; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rent, leases and operating costs could reverse the untested income economics.
  2. The migration and investor indicators rest on small counts and may not represent durable tenant or buyer conditions.
  3. Parcel flood exposure, insurance availability and loss history may differ materially from the county climate model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be substituted for asking rent.

What does the QCEW employment figure measure?

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

What hazard requires parcel-level diligence?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard; the county climate-loss ratio is modeled rather than property-specific.